The real rocket behind tonight’s launch

UPDATE: The launch tonight was scrubbed due to a helium leak in a “ground side umbilical disconnect.” SpaceX is now targeting Wednesday, August 28 at 3:38 AM (Eastern) for the next launch attempt.
Original post:
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At 3:38 am (Eastern) tonight, SpaceX’s will attempt the launch of the Polaris Dawn mission carrying billionaire Jared Isaacman (on his second spaceflight) and three other private passengers (two of which are SpaceX employees), its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying the Resilience capsule on its third flight.

I have embedded a live stream of the launch below. SpaceX says it will begin 3.5 hours before launch. For those on the west coast the timing is reasonable. East coasters will have to do without sleep tonight if they wish to watch.

The mission’s main engineering goal during its five-day duration is to complete the first all private spacewalk using EVA suits developed by SpaceX. Two of the crew will exit the capsule, but all four will be in the suits because the capsule has no airlock and will be entirely vented of air during the spacewalk. The mission’s secondary goal (which it actually will do first) will be to raise the orbit to about 870 miles, the highest orbit for a manned flight since the Apollo missions in the 1970s. During that high orbit the crew will do radiation research, which they will continue after the orbit is lowered. More information about the mission goals can be read here.

The mission’s real goal however has nothing to do with engineering and everything to do with freedom and the American dream. This is an entirely private mission. The rocket is privately built. The capsule is privately built. The launchpad is privately built. The launch crew is privately employed. The astronauts are all private citizens, with one paying the way for the entire flight and two flying as employees of SpaceX to test the operation of its capsule in orbit.

No government money is involved. The government had little or no say on what will happen. The mission will illustrate in very stark terms what the American dream is all about, since it has been conceived, paid for, and created entirely by private citizens following their own dreams and goals.

Hail to freedom! May the bell of liberty always ring.

SpaceX’s own live streams at either SpaceX.com or on X will only become available once they go live. I have however embedded the Space Affairs youtube feed of that live stream below, which allows you to go on standby before the stream goes live.