SpaceX booked to fly 2 people to the moon in 2018
The SpaceX Falcon rocket launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017, carrying supplies for the International Space Station. (NASA TV via AP)
Tesla Motors Inc., CEO Elon Musk discusses the company's new Gigafactory Tuesday, July 26, 2016, in Sparks. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
Updated February 27, 2017 - 3:45 pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX says it will fly two people to the moon next year.
Company chief Elon Musk announced the surprising news Monday.
Two people who know one another approached the company about sending them on a weeklong flight just beyond the moon. Musk won’t identify the pair or the price tag. He says they’ve already paid a “significant” deposit.
Musk says SpaceX is on track to launch astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA in mid-2018. This moon mission would follow about six months later, using a Dragon crew capsule and a Falcon heavy rocket.
Musk says the moon mission is designed to be autonomous — unless something goes wrong. SpaceX says the passengers would fly to the moon, but won’t land on it.
