By Kyle Coppola
Historic Falcon 9 Launch Set for Polaris Dawn Mission on August 27
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX is set to make history on Tuesday, August 27, with the launch of Polaris Dawn, an ambitious all-private spaceflight that will include the first-ever attempted commercial extravehicular activity, or spacewalk. The mission, commanded by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, will lift off from Cape Canaveral at 3:38 a.m. aboard the Falcon 9 rocket.
Polaris Dawn marks the latest chapter in Isaacman’s space exploration endeavors following his previous mission, Inspiration4, which made headlines in 2021 as the first all-civilian spaceflight to orbit Earth. The spacecraft for this mission, named Resilience, has a storied history of its own, having previously launched Crew-1 to the International Space Station in 2020 and later carrying Isaacman and his crew on Inspiration4. This will be Resilience’s first flight in nearly three years.
The Polaris Dawn mission aims to push the boundaries of private space exploration. In addition to the historic spacewalk, the crew will reach an orbit higher than any human spaceflight since the Apollo missions, gathering data on the effects of deep space travel on the human body. The mission will also include scientific research and experiments designed to benefit future space missions.
“This mission is a major step forward in advancing human spaceflight and paving the way for future exploration,” said Isaacman. “We are pushing the envelope in several areas, from the altitude we will reach to the first commercial spacewalk.”
The Falcon 9 rocket, which has become a workhorse for SpaceX, will carry Resilience and its crew into orbit. The mission further demonstrates SpaceX’s growing role in enabling private space exploration and its ongoing collaboration with commercial partners.
As the countdown begins, all eyes are on the Florida Space Coast, where the launch of Polaris Dawn could set new milestones in the rapidly evolving era of commercial spaceflight. If all goes to plan, look to the east early Tuesday morning and watch our fellow country men and women which include Jared Isaacman, Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon blast off into space at 3:38 a.m.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
