We are excited to announce that SpaceX has been approached to fly two private citizens on a trip around the moon late next year. They have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission. Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration. We expect to conduct health and fitness tests, as well as begin initial training later this year. Other flight teams have also expressed strong interest and we expect more to follow. Additional information will be released about the flight teams, contingent upon their approval and confirmation of the health and fitness test results.
The company’s next-generation Dragon capsule will be used on the flight, in fully automatic mode.
This flight will take place after SpaceX begins flying NASA astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Crew program. At this point, it is unknown who the customers are, or what they paid for the opportunity to become the first humans to fly past low-Earth orbit since the Apollo days.