While Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin struggles to get its rocket off the ground, Elon Musk’s SpaceX continues to dominate the space race with the most rocket launches and satellite deployments to low-Earth orbit worldwide. Meanwhile, Musk has become a target for Democrats, with even the White House weaponizing federal agencies against the billionaire, given his support for free speech through the X platform and support for former President Trump. 

Next Monday, Musk’s SpaceX will usher in a new era of commercial space exploration when a Falcon 9 rocket ferries four astronauts to space via Dragon capsule under the Polaris Program to test and develop new spaceflight technology. 

The @PolarisProgram’s Polaris Dawn mission will be the first crew to perform a spacewalk from Dragon, fly higher in Earth’s orbit than anyone since the Apollo program, test laser-based @Starlink communications, and conduct research to help provide insight on human health during… pic.twitter.com/RW387QWShY

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 22, 2024

“This milestone mission will include testing a next-generation spacesuit during the first commercial spacewalk; endeavoring to achieve the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission since the Apollo program; and testing a new communication system using Starlink,” the Polaris Program wrote in a release. 

This will be the first spacewalk by a commercial company and the furthest from Earth anyone has traveled in over half a century! https://t.co/eYQnMo1nrK

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 22, 2024

It added, “The four crewmembers will also use their approximately five days on-orbit to conduct nearly 40 critical health research experiments, all while raising funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.” 

Shortly thereafter, Dragon arrived at our hangar at pad 39A ahead of Falcon 9’s launch of Polaris Dawn pic.twitter.com/HdNYlXCPnQ

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 21, 2024

Here are the four major milestones the Polaris Dawn’s four-person crew will attempt to achieve next week: 

Flying higher than any previous Dragon mission to date and reaching the highest Earth orbit ever flown while moving through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt at an orbital altitude of 190 x 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) from Earth’s surface – or more than three times higher than the International Space Station. This will be the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission in more than a half-century since the Apollo program;

Attempting the first-ever commercial spacewalk. This will take place at an elliptical orbit of 190 x 700 kilometers (435 miles) above Earth in newly developed SpaceX EVA spacesuits. During the spacewalk, the crew will conduct a series of tests that will provide necessary data that will allow SpaceX teams to produce and scale for future long-duration missions. The crew worked with SpaceX engineers throughout suit development, testing various iterations for mobility and performance (along with mobility aids and systems procedures), and conducted operations inside vacuum chambers to validate pre-breathe protocols and the readiness of the EVA suit;

Testing laser-based satellite communication using optical links between the Dragon spacecraft and Starlink satellites, revolutionizing the speed and quality of space communications;

Conducting nearly 40 experiments for critical scientific research designed to advance our knowledge of human health both on Earth and during future long-duration space flights

Separately, NASA is set to announce the planned return of two stranded Boeing Starliner astronauts aboard the ISS on early Saturday afternoon. Reports have already suggested that the space agency has discussed the possibility of ferrying the astronauts on a SpaceX Dragon. 

If NASA selects Musk’s SpaceX to rescue the stranded astronauts on the ISS, it could trigger rage among Democrats, as Trump’s most outspoken supporter would dominate the news cycle on the rescue mission while leftist MSM artificially propping up Kamala Harris fades into darkness.