In a first, SpaceX to send an all-civilian crew into orbit
Falcon 9 rocket, with a Dragon capsule at its top, to blast off from Florida
Can four people who’ve never been to space before spend three days spinning around Earth after only a few months of training?
That’s the challenge SpaceX has set for itself when it launches its first tourism mission, the first time a crew of exclusively private citizens will orbit our planet.
A five-hour launch window for “Inspiration4” opens from 8:02pm (0002 GMT today).
575 kms altitude flight
A Falcon 9 rocket, with a Dragon capsule at its top, will blast off from the legendary launch complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Center in Florida, from where the Apollo 11 mission took off for the Moon.
The spaceship’s trajectory will take it to an altitude of 575 kilometres, deeper into space than the International Space Station (ISS).
At the end of their journey, the four Americans will splash down off the coast of Florida, their descent slowed down by huge parachutes.
The mission was paid for by Jared Isaacman, a 38-yearold high school dropout and founder of Shift4 Payments. SpaceX hasn’t disclosed what it cost him, but the price tag runs into tens of millions of dollars.
“We understand how lucky and fortunate we are,” Isaacman told a press briefing on Tuesday.