Expanding our understanding of what's possible
Starting with Polaris Dawn, the program will consist of a series of missions, culminating in the world’s first-human spaceflight on Starship, all while raising awareness and funds for important causes here on Earth, including St. Jude.
St. Jude is proud to be the charitable beneficiary of this milestone in spaceflight, which will allow us to continue our groundbreaking research for kids worldwide afflicted with cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Jared Isaacman — Commander of Inspiration4 — will command up to three Polaris missions, starting with Polaris Dawn. We are grateful to Jared and deeply honored by his continued support of St. Jude through his spaceflights.
As early as fourth quarter 2022
- Polaris Dawn crew will spend up to five days in orbit, flying higher than any Dragon mission to date and endeavoring to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown.
- The flight will feature the first-ever commercial spacewalk with SpaceX-designed extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits, upgraded from the current intravehicular (IVA) suit. The development of this suit and the execution of the EVA will be important steps toward a scalable design for spacesuits on future long-duration missions.
- They will become the first crew to test Starlink laser-based communications in space, providing valuable data for future space communications systems necessary for human spaceflight to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
The single most significant predictor of whether a child with cancer will survive is where they live.
Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall survival rate for childhood cancer from 20% when the hospital opened in 1962 to more than 80% today, meaning 4 out of 5 children afflicted with cancer in the United States will survive.
However, that statistic is reversed in many developing countries: fewer than one in five children with cancer will live.
St. Jude is working to change that.
Our worldwide goal
Our goal is to cure at least 60% of children with six of the most common kinds of cancer worldwide by 2030.
Background art by St. Jude patient. Coraliz
Together, we can build a brighter future for the generations to come.