Polaris Dawn astronauts complete first commercial spacewalk

Two astronauts have completed the first commercial spacewalk and tested slimmed-down spacesuits designed by SpaceX, in one of the boldest attempts yet to push the boundaries of privately funded spaceflight.

- Oliver Holmes

Hundreds of miles above Earth and orbiting at more than 18,000mph, the billionaire Jared Isaacman, who chartered the Polaris Dawn mission, exited the space capsule at 11.52am UK time yesterday.

"Back at home we all have a lot of work to do, but from here Earth sure looks like a perfect world," said the 41-year-old space enthusiast as he stood on a ladder looking down at Earth's surface.

Isaacman was followed by Sarah Gillis, a senior engineer at SpaceX who has spent years working on missions from the ground. Gillis, 30, conducted movement tests to assess how the new SpaceX suit - a much less bulky equivalent of the Nasa equipment operates in the vacuum of space.

To prepare for the test, conducted at an altitude of about 450 miles, the Crew Dragon capsule was completely depressurised, meaning the whole crew - including the two who remained inside relied on their spacesuits for oxygen and pressure.

Until now, only well-funded government agencies had managed to carry out spacewalks, known as extravehicular activities (EVAS), and they are a notoriously difficult feat. Most have been done from the International Space Station and the Chinese Tiangong space station.