Florida - SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn crew has safely returned to Earth after a groundbreaking five-day mission in orbit, highlighted by the world’s first commercial spacewalk. The Crew Dragon capsule, named Resilience, splashed down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, at 03:37 EDT (07:37 GMT) on Sunday morning, bringing the mission to a successful conclusion.

"Splashdown of Dragon confirmed! Welcome back to Earth," SpaceX announced on X, formerly known as Twitter. The United States space agency NASA hailed the mission as “a giant leap forward” for the commercial space industry.

The four-member civilian crew was led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, CEO of Shift4 Payments, who financed the mission. He was joined by Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a retired US Air Force pilot and Isaacman’s close friend, along with SpaceX employees Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. Over the course of their journey, they set a record by reaching an altitude of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers), the highest human flight since NASA’s Apollo missions ended in 1972.

The Polaris Dawn mission also made history by executing the first commercial spacewalk, a high-risk extravehicular activity (EVA) previously attempted only by government-funded astronauts. Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis became the first civilians to perform a spacewalk, exiting the spacecraft for approximately 10 minutes each.

"Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do, but from here — looks like a perfect world," Isaacman said while speaking to SpaceX’s mission control in Hawthorne, California, during the EVA. The two astronauts floated 435 miles (700 kilometers) above Earth during the spacewalk, which was carried out without the use of an airlock, exposing the crew to the vacuum of space.

This EVA was made possible by innovative spacesuits developed by SpaceX, which were fitted with new technology to protect the crew. Despite the spacecraft reaching temperatures of up to 1,900 degrees Celsius (3,500 degrees Fahrenheit) upon reentry due to friction and pressure at speeds of 17,000 mph (27,000 kph), the astronauts remained safe, thanks to the heat shield on the bottom of the 13-foot-wide (4-meter-wide) capsule.

Returning to Earth posed one of the most dangerous challenges of the mission. The Dragon spacecraft performed a “de-orbit burn,” slowing its speed before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. After deploying parachutes to decelerate further, the capsule splashed into the Gulf of Mexico, where rescue crews were ready to haul it onto a special boat known as the “Dragon’s nest” for final safety checks.

The mission was filled with scientific achievements, as the crew conducted over 40 experiments during their five days in orbit. These experiments focused on the impact of space travel on human health, as well as testing inter-satellite laser communications between the Dragon spacecraft and SpaceX’s Starlink satellites.

Sarah Gillis, a trained violinist, brought her instrument onboard the mission and performed “Rey’s Theme” from *Star Wars: The Force Awakens*. Her performance was broadcast back to Earth using SpaceX’s Starlink system, which tested the satellite network’s ability to provide in-space connectivity. The performance was created in collaboration with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, part of the Polaris Dawn team’s ongoing fundraising efforts for childhood cancer research.

In addition to playing her violin, Gillis and fellow crew member Anna Menon participated in outreach programs during the mission. Menon read *Kisses From Space*, a book she co-authored, to her family and patients from St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

This was the third trip to space for the Crew Dragon capsule Resilience, which was previously used during NASA’s Crew-1 mission in November 2020 and the Inspiration4 mission in 2021. Both of those trips were also spearheaded by Isaacman, with the latter serving as a fundraiser for childhood cancer research.

Polaris Dawn is the first of three planned missions in collaboration between Isaacman and SpaceX, with the goal of pushing the boundaries of commercial space exploration. These missions include the highly anticipated manned flight of SpaceX’s next-generation rocket, Starship, which is currently under development.

As the crew concluded their historic mission, NASA and SpaceX praised the success of the Polaris Dawn program and the potential it represents for future commercial space endeavors.