Earth ‘looks like a perfect world’, billionaire says on first private spacewalk

A billionaire who stepped out on the first private spacewalk declared that “Earth sure looks like a perfect world”, as he emerged from a spacecraft and looked back at the planet.

Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman carried out a number of mobility tests on a new spacesuit and was the first of two crew members to step out into space.

Mission commander Isaacman joins a small group of spacewalkers who until now had included only professional astronauts from a dozen countries.

In a live feed relayed back to Earth, he could be heard saying: “Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world.”

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SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, erupted in cheers and applause when Mr Isaacman first exited the spacecraft.

The commercial spacewalk was the main focus of the five-day flight financed by Mr Isaacman and Elon Musk’s company.

After completing a series of manoeuvres, Mr Isaacman returned to the Dragon spacecraft, to make way for mission specialist Sarah Gillis to perform the same series of actions and close the hatch after returning to the cabin herself.

All four members of the Polaris Dawn crew wore SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits to protect themselves and a main aim of the mission was to test these suits.

Before the spacewalks could begin, and the hatch could be opened, they had to wait until their capsule was depressurised.

The spacewalkers – who had around 15 minutes outside – then climbed up through the hatch, one by one, and while still tethered to the spacecraft with their feet remaining inside, carried out series of stretches to test the spacesuit.

Mission pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and mission specialist and medical officer Anna Menon stayed in their seats and monitored vital support systems throughout the operation.

Mission controllers announced the spacewalk complete from company headquarters in Hawthorne, California, after one hour and 46 minutes.

SpaceX commentator Kate Tice said the walk went by “in the blink of an eye”.

Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science at the University of Leicester and director of strategic partnerships at Space Park Leicester, said: “The first commercial space walk is a very exciting event. It demonstrates how the capability of commercial space companies is growing.

“Partnerships between these companies, including SpaceX, will be the model for how human space exploration is conducted in the future.”

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said: “Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry.”