Key Facts SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched the group onboard the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:23 a.m. EDT. U.S. entrepreneur and billionaire Jared Isaacman, 41, is part of the four-member crew along with Scott Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force pilot, and senior SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis. Tuesday’s launch was delayed by nearly two hours due to poor weather conditions at the launch site—an issue that had also prevented the mission’s first launch attempt on August 28. Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here. What To Watch For The Polaris Dawn mission is attempting to notch key milestones, including the first spacewalk carried out by a crew onboard a private space mission. The spacewalk will test out SpaceX’s newest extra-vehicular spacesuits, which are designed to be more flexible and planned for use in future missions. The spacewalk is set to take place on the third day of the mission, with Isaacman and Gillis each spending around 15 minutes outside the spacecraft. The mission will also be the furthest crewed space mission since NASA’s Apollo moon missions from the 1970s. At the farthest point of its orbit, the Polaris Dawn mission will reach an altitude of 870 miles, beating out NASA’s 1966 Gemini XI mission’s orbit record of 853 miles—the highest ever by a non-lunar mission. Forbes Valuation According to our estimates, Isaacman’s current net worth is $1.8 billion. Much of the billionaire’s fortune comes from the 38% stake he owns in Shift4 Payments—the payments processing company he founded in 1999. Tangent Isaacman, who dropped out of high school, founded Shift4 Payments (then known as United Bank Card) at the age of 16 in his parents’ basement in New Jersey—after dropping out of high school. Shift4 Payments provides point-of-sale terminals to businesses and the company’s website says it processes more than $260 billion in payments every year. Outside his business, Isaacman has been a long-time aviation hobbyist and a trained pilot who has flown fighter jets. In 2009, Isaacman set the record for the fastest flight around the world, clocking in a time of 61 hours and 51 minutes. He also founded Draken International, the Florida-based private defense company that operates multiple fighter jets and helps provide training to military pilots. Surprising Fact The Polaris Dawn Mission isn’t Isaacman’s first trip to space. In 2021, he flew on board a SpaceX craft as part of the Inspiration4 mission—the first orbital spaceflight featuring only private citizens. The mission was part of a charitable mission and the other crew members included a cancer survivor from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, who now works at the hospital as a physician, and two raffle draw winners. Further Reading