San Francisco - Elon Musk’s Space Exploration
Technologies plans to send two private citizens on a trip around the moon late
next year as it continues to work with NASA for a crewed mission to the
International Space Station.
The passengers, who paid a “significant deposit,” will
undergo health and fitness tests and begin initial training later this year,
the company said. SpaceX didn’t identify the two citizens or say how much they
spent.
“It’s a pretty big mouthful to take two private citizens
to orbit the moon,” said Marco Caceres, a senior space analyst with Teal Group,
an aerospace and defense market researcher. “It’s pretty risky; these are
private citizens, which is different from an astronaut.”
Pulling off the mission would mark SpaceX’s first foray
into space tourism, which Musk has warned will be both dangerous and expensive.
The billionaire last year estimated initial fares will start at about $200 000
apiece for 100 or more passengers taking trips to Mars. Richard Branson’s
Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are among competitors vying for
lead position in the nascent recreational space travel market.
Read also: Musk: Electricity is just a bonus
The Falcon Heavy rocket, which will power the civilian
mission, will complete its first test flight this summer, according to SpaceX.
SpaceX also said it will launch an unmanned spacecraft to
the International Space Station this year and fly its first crew there in the
second quarter of 2018. SpaceX has contracts with the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration valued at $4.2 billion to resupply the Space Station using
its unmanned Dragon spacecraft and ultimately to ferry astronauts to the
station from the US.
“By also flying privately crewed missions, which NASA has
encouraged, long-term costs to the government decline and more flight
reliability history is gained, benefiting both government and private
missions,” the company said in a statement.
The Government Accountability Office said in a report
earlier this month that SpaceX and competitor Boeing may not be approved to
transport astronauts until 2019 because of potential safety hazards.
“Elon Musk is trying to keep up the excitement,” said
Caceres. “But it comes with huge risks when you are talking about launching
private citizens on a rocket that has yet to be certified.”
President Donald Trump has indicated support for a
more-ambitious space program, saying in his inaugural address that the US is
“ready to unlock the mysteries of space.” NASA hasn’t sent people beyond
low-Earth orbit since the final moon missions more than 40 years ago, although
it did continue manned flights with the Space Shuttle until 2011.