SpaceX’s spacesuit for the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission will receive a cable instead of a backpack with life support systems

SpaceX has revealed a new spacesuit that will be used for a private spacewalk during the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission. The launch date for the full private Polaris mission has not yet been confirmed, but SpaceX plans to launch it this year, possibly as early as this summer.

The new suit provides improved mobility and features a state-of-the-art helmet with Heads-Up Display (HUD) glass, a camera, new temperature-regulating textiles and components borrowed from the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.

Unlike the massive EMU backpack used on the International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX’s space suit will have a special cable that carries life support systems from the spacecraft.

The Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Crew Dragon spacecraft with four amateur astronauts into orbit. At an altitude of about 435 miles (700 kilometers) above the Earth – significantly higher than the ISS, which orbits the Earth at an altitude of about 250 miles (402 kilometers). Two members of the Polaris Dawn crew will go into outer space in new spacesuits.

The Polaris Dawn mission team will be led by Jared Isaacman, who became the first civilian astronaut during the Inspiration4 mission in 2021. It was also hosted by SpaceX and included a modified Crew Dragon spacecraft with a glass dome that offered an amazing view of Earth.