SpaceX and New Partner Announce Space Tourism Venture
“If interested parties are secured, this mission will be the first orbital space tourism experience provided entirely with American technology.”
SpaceX has partnered with Space Adventures to introduce commercial astronaut flights. In an announcement on Tuesday, the two companies revealed their plan to launch four private citizens into space in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule.
“If interested parties are secured, this mission will be the first orbital space tourism experience provided entirely with American technology,” the announcement explained. “Private citizens will fly aboard SpaceX’s fully autonomous Crew Dragon spacecraft launched by the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, the same spacecraft and launch vehicle that SpaceX will use to transport NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.”
Space Adventures, a private space tourism company, has already organized eight commercial flights to the International Space Station for clients including engineer/entrepreneur Dennis Tito, and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte.
SpaceX has also been working toward private space flights through NASA’s Commercial Crew program, where they have been working on certifying the Dragon for human flight.
“This historic mission will forge a path to making spaceflight possible for all people who dream of it, and we are pleased to work with the Space Adventures team on the mission,” SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement.
The private space trips are expected to begin in either 2021 or 2022. And though a price hasn’t been revealed for the intrepid space adventures, Tito reportedly paid $20 million for the Space Adventures trip he took in 2001 and Laliberte paid $35 million for his 2009 trip.