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SpaceX plans to send four private citizens into orbit around the Earth by the end of this year, a press release said Monday.
The mission, known as Inspiration4, is called ‘the world’s first civilian mission’. Elon Musk’s company promises that the Crew Dragon capsule will launch by the fourth quarter of 2021.
Jared Isaacman, the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, will be in charge of the company’s spacecraft. The mission, known as Inspiration4, aims to support St.Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Isaacman donates the three accompanying seats for the mission “to crew members who will be selected to represent the mission pillars of leadership, hope, generosity and prosperity,” SpaceX said in a press release.
“Inspiration4 is the realization of a lifelong dream and a step towards a future in which everyone can venture and explore the stars. I appreciate the tremendous responsibility that comes with being commissioned on this mission and I want to use this historic moment to inspire humanity as I help tackle childhood cancer here on earth, ‘Isaacman said in a statement.
Isaacman het St. Jude was given two of the seats for the mission, with one ‘reserved for a St. Jude ambassador with direct ties to the mission ‘. The fourth and final crew seat is determined by an online competition presented from February 1 to February 28, open to new and existing customers of Isaacman’s Shift4Shop eCommerce 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 on the company’s Starship rocket during a trip around the Moon in 2023. SpaceX also has space tourism transactions with Axiom Space, which aims to fly four people to the International Space Station on a ten-day journey early next year, and Space Adventures, which plans to take four tourists on a five-day ‘free flight’ by 2022 ‘to fly to an orbit.