YOUR NEXT HOLIDAY COULD BE OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD
Cliff Richard’s hit song ‘Summer Holiday’ might need a zero-gravity refresh for 2020, if the latest deal between Space Adventures and SpaceX is anything to go by!
Space Adventures, the company that organized the flights for the world’s first private space explorers, has entered into an agreement with SpaceX to fly private citizens on the first Crew Dragon free-flyer mission.
Up to four individuals will have the opportunity to break the world altitude record for private citizen spaceflight and see planet Earth the way no one has since the Gemini program.
“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.”
- President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell
If interested parties are secured, this mission will be the first orbital space tourism experience provided entirely with American technology. 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.
“Creating unique and previously impossible opportunities for private citizens to experience space is why Space Adventures exists. From 2001-2009 our clients made history by flying over 36 million miles in space on eight separate missions to the ISS. Since its maiden mission in 2010, no engineering achievement has consistently impressed the industry more than the Dragon/Falcon 9 reusable system. Honoring our combined histories, this Dragon mission will be a special experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity – capable of reaching twice the altitude of any prior civilian astronaut mission or space station visitor.”
- Chairman of Space Adventures, Eric Anderson
Two US-based companies - Virgin Galactic, Richard Bransons' space company and Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' space company - are separately developing vehicles for suborbital space tourism, offering brief flights to about 96km over the Earth's surface for scenic views and a few minutes of weightlessness, reports CNN.com.