Why in the News?

Four private astronauts launched into space aboard a modified SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for the five-day Polaris Dawn mission. The crew, including a billionaire entrepreneur and two SpaceX employees, aims to test new spacesuit designs and conduct the first private spacewalk. They reached an orbit as far as 1,400 km from Earth, the farthest humans have traveled since NASA's Apollo program ended in 1972.

About SpaceX

• Full Name: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation
• Founder: Elon Musk
• Founded: 2002
• It is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company.
• Vision: Reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars.
• Key Achievements
  • Reusable Rockets: It revolutionized spaceflight with the development of reusable rockets. The Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets are designed to return and land after launch, significantly reducing costs.
  • Falcon 1: The first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit in 2008.
  • Falcon 9: The first orbital rocket to land vertically and be reused in subsequent missions.
  • Falcon Heavy: The most powerful operational rocket in the world, capable of lifting large payloads into orbit.
  • Dragon: The spacecraft developed to carry cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS).
  • Starship
    • It is a next-generation spacecraft designed for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
    • It is intended to be fully reusable and is currently in the testing phase.
    • Its long-term goal is to establish a human settlement on Mars.
  • Starlink: It is a satellite internet constellation project aimed at providing high-speed internet access globally, particularly in underserved and remote areas.

Polaris Dawn crewmember conducting the first-ever private spacewalk