WATCH: SpaceX astronauts perform historic commercial spacewalk

After breaking an altitude record for a crewed space flight not headed to the moon, two astronauts aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule performed the first ever spacewalk by private astronauts early Thursday morning as the Elon Musk-owned company continues to set benchmarks for commercial operations in space.

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who financed the mission in partnership with SpaceX, exited the capsule just before 5 a.m. MDT Thursday, spending about 10 minutes with his body mostly outside the vehicle. Cameras inside and outside the spacecraft captured Isaacman, who was attached by a short tether and maintained a handhold on a rail attached to the exterior of the capsule as he performed movement tests on a new spacesuit that he also helped design.

SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis made a similar extravehicular foray after Isaacman reentered the capsule. The other two passengers, former U.S. Air Force pilot Scott Poteet and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon, remained strapped in their seats for the spacewalk operations, which lasted for about two hours including pre- and post-walk procedures. All four astronauts were exposed to the vacuum of space since the Dragon capsule does not feature an isolated exit hatch for leaving the vehicle.

The 41-year-old Isaacman, who found success with a digital payment processing platform he started while in his teens, is a licensed jet pilot who is also functioning as the mission commander for the first in a series of spaceflights that SpaceX has dubbed its Polaris program.

Record-setting altitude

While Thursday’s spacewalk occurred as the capsule flew about 400 miles above the Earth’s surface, the spacecraft had earlier reached an altitude of 870 miles, breaking the previous record of 853 miles, set by Apollo-era astronauts, for a crewed ship that was not en route to the moon.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson posted his congratulations to SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn mission crew members on social media Thursday morning following the successful spacewalks.

“Congratulations @PolarisProgram and @SpaceX on the first commercial spacewalk in history,” Nelson posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry and @NASA ‘s long-term goal to build a vibrant U.S. space economy.”

Isaacman and his fellow astronauts launched Tuesday morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission scheduled for five days. The crew will spend the remainder of its flight in orbit, performing additional mission tests. The capsule is set to execute a parachute-assisted water landing in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida this weekend.

This is the first of three trips that Isaacman bought from Elon Musk 2 1/2 years ago, soon after returning from his first private SpaceX spaceflight in 2021, according to The Associated Press . Isaacman bankrolled that tourist ride for an undisclosed sum, taking along contest winners and a childhood cancer survivor. The trip raised hundreds of millions for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The current mission is also aiming to fundraise for charitable groups.

SpaceX headed for a rescue mission

Besides creating new options for civilian journeys into space, SpaceX’s successful Dragon vehicle has become the primary workhorse for shuttling crews and cargo back and forth to the International Space Station since it became the first commercial spacecraft to dock at the station in 2012.

Dragon, developed by SpaceX under a NASA contract, has also taken on a new role as a rescue vehicle, following NASA’s decision to send the Boeing Starliner capsule back to Earth last week without the two-person crew that flew the ship to the space station in early June.

While veteran astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were originally scheduled to return on Starliner after an eight-day mission, issues with the capsule’s propulsion systems and helium leaks stretched the mission out for months and eventually led NASA to keep the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, citing safety concerns with Starliner.