How did Jared Isaacman, the billionaire behind the first private spacewalk, build his wealth?

SpaceX is set to conduct the world’s first-ever privately-funded spacewalk today, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman.

The mission, known as Polaris Dawn, is the first of three funded by Isaacman, who made his fortune as founder of payments processing business Shift4.

Isaacman will act as commander of a team of four astronauts,which also includes retired air force pilot Scott ‘Kidd’ Poteet, and two SpaceX engineers Anna Menon and Sarah Gillis.

Today’s mission will not be the billionaire’s first time in space- Three years ago, he helped finance and lead SpaceX’s first private mission with a group of three other civilians.

But the upcoming mission is significant because the crew plans to travel further than any other expedition since the Apollo era.

The crew will face additional risks during the five-day mission as they fly through a radiation belt. They will be the first to field-test SpaceX’s new spacesuits, which are designed for increased mobility and feature a mask display which shows information like air supply, pressure levels and temperature.

So how did a billionaire financier become the head of one of the most significant space flights in years? Here’s the lowdown on Jared Isaacman.

Who is Jared Isaacman?

Born in New Jersey on February 11, 1983, Isaacman was an entrepreneur from a young age, dropping out of high school at age 15 after describing himself as a ‘horrible student’ who ‘wasn’t happy in school’.

He instead founded his first company, United Bank Card, in 1999 when he was just 16 years old while working part-time at a credit card terminal company.

The company, which later became Shift4 Payments, was created to provide payment processing services to businesses and quickly gained traction by offering better rates, transparent pricing, and more customer-friendly service than competitors. 

It eventually became one of the largest payment processing firms in the U.S.

After growing his fortune, Isaacman later founded Draken International in 2012, which provides training for air force pilots for the US military, the UK, and NATO countries.

He became a billionaire in 2020 after selling Draken International to Blackstone and taking Shift4 public, and now has a net worth of around $1.9 billion, according to Forbes.

The Polaris Dawn crew will test SpaceX’s new commercial spacesuits (Picture: Polaris Program)

How did he become involved with SpaceX?

Isaacman has always harboured a passion for aviation, attending flight school in 2004 during a bout of burnout and eventually becoming an accomplished pilot.

After establishing himself as a renowned pilot and adventurer, having set world records for high-speed, around-the-world flights, Isaacman opened discussions with SpaceX in 2020 about launching an all-civilian spaceflight.

This collaboration culminated in Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit the Earth, launched by SpaceX in September 2021.

The mission was personally funded by Isaacman, and in addition to flying to space himself, he used the mission to raise awareness and funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, committing $100 million of his own money and raising additional millions for paediatric cancer research.

The Inspiration4 crew included a physician assistant from St. Jude, a scientist, and an engineer, all civilians with different backgrounds.

Following the success of Inspiration4, Isaacman announced the Polaris Program in 2022, a multi-mission initiative in partnership with SpaceX to push the boundaries of space exploration, including spacewalks and testing new technologies for future missions.

Isaacman is an accomplished pilot who has been into space before (Picture: AP)

What is the purpose of the Polaris Dawn mission?

While the commercial aspect of the mission is seen as the most important factor to a wider audience, the real purpose of the flight is to test SpaceX’s new spacesuits.

In an interview given while she was training for the spacewalk, fellow crewmember Sarah Gillis said that it was a necessary part of Space X’s plans to send people to other worlds.

‘So far only countries have been able to perform a spacewalk. Space X has huge ambitions to get to Mars and make life multiplanetary. In order to get there, we need to start somewhere. And the first step is testing out the first iteration of the EVA spacesuit so that we can make spacewalks and future suit designs even better.’

Isaacman echoed the sentiment, and added: ‘The idea is to learn as much as we possibly can about this suit and get it back to the engineers to inform future suit design evolutions.

‘Space X know they need EVA capability if they are going to realise their long-term dream of populating another planet someday.’

Polaris Dawn astronauts Anna Menon (L), Scott “Kidd” Poteet (2L), Jared Isaacman (2R) and Sarah Gillis (R) (Picture: Polaris Dawn)

What will happen during the spacewalk?

The mission will take place in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft which has no airlock, which means the only way to perform the spacewalk is to let all the air out of the spacecraft, and then open one of the hatches.

After reaching orbit, the crew will exit the capsule for around 15 to 20 minutes each, passing through a hatch at the top of the Crew Dragon with the help of a handrail that SpaceX has named Skywalker.

Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis will embark on the spacewalk, while the other two crew members will remain inside the craft to feed the spacewalkers oxygen and power and ensure everything runs properly.

Overall the entire spacewalk is expected to take about two hours in total, from letting out all the air to refilling a breathable atmosphere.

The mission is seen as risky one for an amateur crew (Picture: Polaris Program)

The mission itself is a risky one- especially for a crew of rookies. Isaacman has only been into space once before while the other three have never left orbit.

While some have bristled at the idea of a billionaire paying to go into space and also naming himself commander of the crew, experts have warned not to dismiss the endeavour as a mere vanity project.

Dr Simeon Barber, a space scientist at the Open University, told BBC News: ‘Isaacman is actually the most experienced astronaut of the crew – he alone has been to space before, on another self-funded mission with SpaceX, where he also took the position of Commander. In the context of the mission, he is the natural choice.’

Elizabeth Baker