Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX employee Sarah Gillis stepped out of the Crew Dragon spacecraft for a two-hour spacewalk to an orbit of 700 km - almost twice the altitude of the International Space Station.
The main purpose of the venture is to test out SpaceX's new astronaut suits, which are designed to take astronauts to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
When the elliptical orbit of their Dragon spacecraft was lowered to its lowest point of about 190 km and highest point of 690 km, pure oxygen began to flow into their suits, marking the official start of their extravehicular activity (EVA).
"Dragon's first spacewalk has begun!" wrote SpaceX on the social network X.
This milestone is the latest in a series of achievements for SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk in 2002. Initially dismissed by traditionalists, it has since grown into a powerful company that has changed the space industry.
In 2020, it overtook aerospace giant Boeing in delivering a safe crewed spacecraft to provide NASA crewed trips to the International Space Station.
Today, it launches more rockets than any other competitor, and its Starlink constellation of satellites provides internet service in dozens of countries. | BGNES
