In September, SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission experienced an unexpected challenge when a power outage struck one of the company’s California facilities, cutting ground control communication with the crew.
As reported by Reuters, the communication blackout occurred while billionaire Jared Isaacman, who recently became NASA administrator under President-elect Donald Trump, was leading the mission. Isaacman notably became the first private citizen to perform a spacewalk during this mission, venturing outside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Despite the hour-long outage, SpaceX assured that the four astronauts were never in any danger. Communication with the ground was maintained via SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network.
However, the situation underscores the potential risks associated with private space operations. “Losing command and control is a significant issue,” said a source familiar with the incident. “The purpose of mission operators on the ground is to provide immediate responses to unexpected situations.”
The incident, which has only now come to light, highlights how private space companies like SpaceX operate with less scrutiny compared to government-run organizations like NASA. This is partly due to a 2004 Congressional moratorium that exempts private operators from reporting orbital mishaps, Reuters notes.
The power outage was reportedly caused by a surge, which left SpaceX unable to shift mission control to its backup facility in Florida. If unresolved, the astronauts might have needed to manually control the spacecraft.
Fortunately, the issue was fixed before Isaacman ventured outside the capsule for his historic spacewalk.