SpaceX to launch four space tourists in Crew Dragon within two years

SpaceX, in collaboration with Space Adventures, will launch four space tourists and orbit the Earth in a Crew Dragon capsule. That should happen sometime in late 2021 or early 2022. It is not known what the space tourists pay.

According to Space Adventures, the launch will take place from Cape Canaveral in Florida. SpaceX confirms the partnership to CNBC. A spokesperson called it “a historic mission that opens the way for all people who dream of space travel.”

The tourists will be launched aboard a Crew Dragon capsule with a Falcon 9 rocket and fly around the Earth. That will happen at an altitude of ‘two to three times the distance from Earth to the ISS’. The International Space Station is located about 400km from Earth.

SpaceX will use the Crew Dragon to transport astronauts to the ISS. So far, no manned flights have been conducted. That should happen later this year for the first time. It is plausible that the pleasure flight will only be carried out after the first practical flights with astronauts.

Space Adventures is a company that specializes in space tourism and was founded in 1998. The company has already arranged seven private trips to the International Space Station with Russia’s Soyuz. The company and SpaceX say they will not disclose what the space trip will cost.