SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk on Monday said the company will send two private citizens around the moon late next year. In a statement on its website, the company said it had been approached by two individuals, who had already paid a “significant deposit” to do a moon mission.
“Like the Apollo astronauts before, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind,” the statement said. “We expect to conduct health and fitness tests, as well as begin initial training later this year.” The company said it would release further details about the flight teams pending their approval and the results of their health and fitness examinations.
SpaceX will send the individuals and their teams on its Crew Dragon spacecraft with the Falcon Heavy rocket. While Musk has not issued details on the cost of the mission, he said it would be “comparable” to the cost of a crewed mission to the International Space Station, The Verge reported.
In a call with reporters, the SpaceX CEO said he was not competing with other space agencies, including the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration, The Washington Post reported. “What matters is the advancement of space exploration and exceeding the high-water mark that was set in 1969 with the Apollo programme,” he said. “This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years and they will travel faster and further into the Solar System than any before them.”
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