SpaceX delayed its Polaris Dawn mission for a third time on Tuesday evening— a troubling sign for the risky mission in which a billionaire is slated to complete the first private spacewalk.
SpaceX said Tuesday that “due to unfavorable weather forecasted in Dragon’s splashdown areas off the coast of Florida, we are now standing down from tonight and tomorrow’s Falcon 9 launch opportunities of Polaris Dawn.”
“Teams will continue to monitor weather for favorable launch and return conditions,” the company said.
The Polaris Dawn and its four crew members — billionaire Jared Isaacman, mission specialist and medical officer Anna Menon, mission specialist Sarah Gillis, and pilot Scott Poteet — were originally slated to take off Monday morning at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That launch was delayed until Tuesday to give the team more time for pre-flight checks. But on Monday evening, SpaceX discovered a helium leak in one of its vessels, delaying the launch until Wednesday.
The company has not said when Polaris Dawn will launch now that it has been delayed three times, but did note it will not launch on Thursday.
While SpaceX founder Elon Musk has commented on previous delays, he did not comment on the most recent one.
The Polaris Dawn crew is scheduled to be in space for five days, where they will conduct the spacewalk and a slew of tests on human health in space.