Would you like to explore outer space without an astronaut?
SpaceX is planning to launch four private citizens in orbit around the Earth by the end of this year, the agency said on Monday in a press release.
The mission, known as Inspiration4, is called “the world’s first fully civilian mission”. Elon Musk’s company promises that the Crew Dragon capsule will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The company’s spacecraft will be commanded by Jared Isaacman, the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments. The mission, known as Inspiration4, aims to garner support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Isaacman is donating the three accompanying seats on the mission “to the crew members who will be selected to represent the pillars of the mission of leadership, hope, generosity and prosperity,” SpaceX said in a press release.
“Inspiration4 is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream and a step towards a future in which anyone can venture and explore the stars. I am grateful for the tremendous responsibility that comes from commanding this mission and I want to use this historic moment to inspire humanity while helping to fight childhood cancer here on Earth, ”said Isaacman in a statement.
Isaacman gave St. Jude two of the seats on the mission, with a “reserved for a St. Jude ambassador with direct ties to the mission”. The fourth and final seat of the crew will be decided by an online competition that runs from 1st to 28th February, open to new and existing customers of Isaacman’s Shift4Shop e-commerce platform.
The Inspiration4 crew will undergo training led by SpaceX, in which they will prepare for launch on top of one of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets.
Elon Musk’s company has announced several private missions in recent years, including an agreement with Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa to fly the company’s rocket on a trip around the Moon in 2023. SpaceX also has space tourism deals with Axiom Space , which aims to take four people to the International Space Station on a 10-day trip early next year, and Space Adventures, which plans to take four tourists on a five-day “free-flyer” trip to orbit by 2022 .