By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The billionaire ecommerce mogul and leader of the first ever all-private crew to orbit last year said Monday that he will help finance up to three additional missions by SpaceX. This is independent from NASA’s human spaceflight program.

Jared Isaacman (founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments Inc) said his partnership with Elon Musk and fellow billionaire “Polaris(NYSE:]” could lead to the launch of its first four-member crew in as little as the fourth quarter.

The mission, called Polaris Dawn, would set an orbital record, feature the first commercial spacewalk and test the laser-based communication system for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network. Isaacman stated this in an online message.

This initiative, if successful, would represent another significant step in commercialization of space. Human exploration has been the exclusive domain of professional astronauts for many years.

Isaacman will be the Polaris Dawn mission’s commander, just as he did with the historic “Inspiration4” flight.

A SpaceX spokesperson told Reuters Isaacman, SpaceX and others “invest in this mission together” without disclosing financial details.

Isaacman was an experienced pilot and founder of a private fighter jet force for military training.

While none of them are professional astronauts, many have strong career connections to the aerospace industry.

Scott Poteet (retired combat pilot U.S. Air Force), is the Polaris Dawn pilot. Poteet was previously an executive at Shift4 and mission director of Inspiration4.

Two SpaceX’s lead space operations engineers, Sarah Gillis (who oversees company’s astronaut training program) and Anna Menon (who manages crew operations design), will complete the crew. Both served on the SpaceX mission control team.

The plans call for a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral to launch Polaris Dawn. Crew members will spend as much as five days in orbit.

Polaris must surpass the 1966 NASA Gemini 11 record of 850 miles (1.368 km), in order to achieve Isaacman’s goal to reach the highest Earth orbital altitude.

Spacewalks are planned for lower orbits at approximately 310 miles (505 km) above the Earth. This would be a particularly difficult feat since it is the first “extravehicular activities” (or EVA) by non-professional astronauts.

The Falcon 9/Crew Dragon combination has proven to be the SpaceX’s workhorse, and would also make part of a second Polaris mission.

The third flight, however, would be the Polaris Program’s first flight. It will take place aboard Musk’s Starship next-generation Starship. SpaceX is currently developing the Starship for future missions to Mars and the Moon.

SpaceX’s maiden crewed mission of a new spacecraft would require experienced astronauts to assist. This is a departure from SpaceX’s long-standing practice, which relies on NASA veteran pilots for the Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 human missions.

Polaris isn’t the only company that wants to launch its own astronauts into orbit.

SpaceX will launch its own four-person crew from Houston’s spaceflight company Axiom on March 30, for the International Space Station. This would mark the first private flight of an all-private crew to dock at the orbiting research lab. A former Israeli fighter pilot and an ex-NASA astronaut are part of the Axiom debut crew.