Want to orbit the moon? SpaceX is taking tourists

SpaceX has announced plans to send two private citizens beyond the moon late next year, according to CEO Elon Musk in a company statement.

The company, founded by Elon Musk, said that it will launch its private moon mission after the missions to the ISS are already established.

The billionaire tech entrepreneur wouldn’t name the two private individuals, who he said approached his firm and will pay for the flight themselves.

SpaceX plans to test launch its Falcon Heavy rocket this summer and its Crew Dragon capsule late this year.

Only after crewed missions have begun for Nasa, SpaceX said, will the company launch its mission around the moon, from the Cape Canaveral launchpad used by the Apollo program.

That’s a significant concern when talking about sending millions of dollars of equipment up to the International Space Station, but the stakes become much higher with humans, especially non-astronaut humans, on board.

The Crew Dragon is an automated vehicle; the system will operate autonomously for most of the flight. Musk told reporters he hopes to fly at least one or two moon-missions a year.

In a news release, SpaceX compared the passengers – who will not be accompanied by NASA personnel – to the famed Apollo astronauts. Musk has tweeted that, despite the report, SpaceX will be ready.

The launch is the company’s first from pad 39A. The first test will be unmanned.

SpaceX has announced some ambitious programs, especially involving Mars, but the company has also faced setbacks from two launch failures in the past two years, which have forced delays in delivering their customers’ satellites into space.

SpaceX’s as-yet-untested Falcon Heavy rocket will fire the pair towards the space rock. CNBC reported that a SpaceX statement said the amateur astronauts will go “faster and further” than any humans have previously gone in space. Musk said there would be minimal changes to the Dragon crew capsule, which will fly for the first time, without a crew, at the end of 2017.

The Crew Dragon will make its first mission to the International Space Station in low Earth orbit later this year.

It added that the mission is likely to the be the first of many as other flight teams have also expressed a strong interest.