Inspiration4's Press Release Times Liftoff at 8:02:56 p.m. EDT on September 15, 2021.

A launch clock time, a splashdown, and a fundraising total are three records. The September 15, 2021 press release and the SpaceX page fetched in October 2026 do not print the same liftoff time. The fundraising pages do not print the same dollar total. The earlier all-civilian flight is this one. The later Dragon flight, with a spacewalk, is Polaris Dawn.

The February 2021 note and the September 18 splashdown note in the update archive are the announcement summary and the splashdown summary. This page is the mission record. The company is SpaceX.

What’s confirmed

The liftoff time, as three pages print it

The Inspiration4 launch release, dated on the page 9.15.2021 and datelined Cape Canaveral, September 15, 2021, says Falcon 9 lifted off at 8:02:56 PM EDT from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It calls the flight “the world’s first all-civilian human spaceflight mission to orbit.”

Spaceflight Now (Stephen Clark, September 20, 2021) says the rocket lifted off from pad 39A at 8:02:56 p.m. EDT on Sept. 15 (0002:56 GMT on Sept. 16). It names the spacecraft Crew Dragon Resilience.

NASA’s September 15, 2021 release says the launch “is targeted to depart Earth with a window opening at 8:02 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 15,” from the same pad. The release is written before liftoff. It says Inspiration4 “will be the company’s first fully private launch with astronauts to orbit” and that it is “not a NASA mission.” It says NASA support is “on a fully reimbursable and non-interference basis,” including communications through the Near Space Network and on-site support at Kennedy. Administrator Bill Nelson is quoted on the Commercial Crew Program having enabled the activity.

The SpaceX mission page, fetched October 20, 2026, says: “On Wednesday, September 15 at 10:02 p.m. ET, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched Inspiration4” from Launch Complex 39A. It says splashdown was on Saturday, September 18, at 7:06 p.m. ET, off the coast of Florida, and it calls the crew “the world’s first civilian mission to orbit.” It says this was the second flight of the Dragon, which previously flew Crew-1, and the third flight of the booster, which previously flew GPS III Space Vehicle 04 and GPS III Space Vehicle 05.

Label: Four pages. 8:02:56 p.m. EDT on September 15 is the Inspiration4 release and Spaceflight Now. 0002:56 GMT on September 16 is Spaceflight Now’s conversion, printed as 0002:56. NASA’s 8:02 p.m. EDT is a window opening in a pre-launch release, not a liftoff timestamp. The SpaceX page’s 10:02 p.m. ET is what that page printed on October 20, 2026. This page does not average 8:02:56 and 10:02. Splashdown at 7:06 p.m. ET on September 18 is the SpaceX page. The splashdown note on this site summarizes an earlier company post at 7:06 p.m. EDT.

Spaceflight Now says the mission ended September 18 with a splashdown “in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Cape Canaveral.” The SpaceX page says “off the coast of Florida.” St. Jude’s timeline, below, says “the Atlantic Ocean.” Those are the three place lines.

The crew, and what the September 15 release says they were attempting

The SpaceX page lists Jared Isaacman, commander; Hayley Arceneaux, medical officer; Chris Sembroski, mission specialist; and Dr. Sian Proctor, pilot.

The September 15 release quotes Isaacman, before launch, on a three-day flight and on St. Jude. It says that since the announcement in March 2021 the crew had spent six months training, including centrifuge, Dragon simulations, Zero-G plane, altitude, classroom, and medical testing. It says the flight would be the first all-civilian crew to orbit Earth, the first free-flight Crew Dragon mission, and the first orbital human spaceflight that would not dock with a space station since STS-125 in 2009. It says the spacecraft would orbit about every 90 minutes, that the crew was “targeting an approximate 575 km orbit,” and that the expected duration was about three days. Gwynne Shotwell, identified as SpaceX president and chief operating officer, is quoted welcoming the crew.

The mission site, fetched October 20, 2026, says Isaacman was commander and is founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, that Arceneaux was medical officer and is a physician assistant at St. Jude and a pediatric cancer survivor, that Sembroski was mission specialist and is a data engineer and Air Force veteran, and that Dr. Sian Proctor was mission pilot. The seats are named Leadership, Hope, Generosity, and Prosperity.

Label: The release’s “first” sentences are the release’s. “Targeting an approximate 575 km orbit” is a target in a launch-day release. The SpaceX splashdown page does not, in the text fetched in October 2026, restate 575 kilometers. The archive splashdown note on this site attributes 575 kilometers to the company’s September 18 report. “March 2021” is the September 15 release’s phrase for the announcement. The February 1, 2021 note is a separate archive summary. This page does not collapse March and February into one announcement date.

St. Jude, and the totals that do not match

The September 15 release says the effort “started by an initial $100 million gift from Isaacman to St. Jude” and had “a fundraising goal to raise $200 million through February 2022.” It says “the mission has a commitment of more than $130 million.” In the same release, Richard C. Shadyac Jr., president and CEO of ALSAC, is quoted thanking Isaacman “for his work helping to raise $200 million for St. Jude.” The $200 million in that sentence is the release’s quotation. The commitment figure in the same release is more than $130 million.

St. Jude’s Inspiration4 page, fetched October 20, 2026, says the launch was September 15, 2021, with four civilian crew members on a three-day orbital mission. It says the $200 million goal “was exceeded” and that “Inspiration4 raised more than $250 million.” It says the flight helped fund the Inspiration4 Advanced Research Center in Memphis, a 625,000 square-foot facility that “can accommodate up to 1,000 employees.” A timeline on that page lists September 15, the launch; September 16, a talk with St. Jude patients; and September 18, splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. The page does not print a publication date.

The same page says Dr. Proctor was 51 and was selected from an online competition that attracted approximately 200 entries, and that Chris Sembroski was 41 and that the generosity-seat campaign received nearly 72,000 entries. It says Arceneaux was treated at St. Jude for osteosarcoma.

The mission site says the crew “raised awareness and over $240 million” for St. Jude. That page does not date the figure.

Label: Five figures, five wordings. $100 million is the release’s “initial gift.” $200 million through February 2022 is the goal in that release. More than $130 million is the commitment “to date” in that release. Shadyac’s “$200 million” is his quoted sentence. More than $250 million, 625,000 square feet, and up to 1,000 employees are the St. Jude page fetched in October 2026. Over $240 million is the mission site. This page does not pick a single raised total.

Later: Polaris Dawn

The St. Jude page says Isaacman’s impact “didn’t stop there” and points readers to the Polaris program. The flown Polaris Dawn record is the September 2024 page: launch September 10, 2024, spacewalk September 12, splashdown September 15. That flight is not this one. NASA’s December 18, 2025 swearing-in of Isaacman as administrator is on that page, not a fact about September 2021.

Claims and open questions

“World’s first all-civilian” is the Inspiration4 release. “World’s first civilian mission to orbit” is the SpaceX page. “First all-private, non-government crew” is Spaceflight Now. NASA says “first fully private launch with astronauts to orbit” in a sentence about what the launch will be, written as a target. This page does not merge those phrases into one legal category.

The SpaceX page’s 10:02 p.m. ET was still the sentence on October 20, 2026. The contemporaneous release and Spaceflight Now print 8:02:56 p.m. EDT, which Spaceflight Now also prints as 0002:56 GMT on September 16. No SpaceX correction of the 10:02 line was on the page this desk read.

The $250 million and $240 million pages do not say as of which day the totals were counted. The September 15 release’s “more than $130 million” is a launch-day commitment, not a final total.

On the map

Polaris Dawn is the later flight. The EVA suit note is the 2024 suit post. SpaceX is the company. The space map is the section. The update archive still holds the February 2021 note and the September 18 note.

Sources

Checked October 20, 2026.