Next A daredevil billionaire rocketed back into orbit Tuesday, aiming to perform the first private spacewalk and venture farther than anyone since NASA's Apollo moonshots. By: RICHMOND, Va. -- People in Virginia spotted a light in the sky early Tuesday morning. The light was Polaris Dawn, an effort by SpaceX to reach the highest Earth orbit since the Apollo program and conduct the first privately-funded spacewalk. The flight took off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:23 a.m. Tuesday. SpaceX Polaris Dawn launch spotted over Virginia The mission’s other objectives include 36 research studies and experiments “designed to advance … human health on Earth and during long-duration spaceflight,” according to SpaceX. The first stage of the spacecraft, Falcon 9, separated and landed on a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.