Houston, Tx — SpaceX says they will take three tourists to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2021 for the first commercial space flight.
The company has teamed up with Axiom Space to take tourists to the ISS on board a SpaceX Dragon Capsule for the first ever fully private trip.
“This history-making flight will represent a watershed moment in the march toward universal and routine access to space,” Axiom CEO Michael Suffredini said in a press release. “This will be just the first of many missions to ISS to be completely crewed and managed by Axiom Space – a first for a commercial entity. Procuring the transportation marks significant progress toward that goal, and we’re glad to be working with SpaceX in this effort.”
The trio will travel on the fully-autonomous capsule which measures about 13-feet across, alongside a trained flight commander.
Once in orbit, the tourists will be allowed to spend at least eight days in microgravity before returning to Earth.
The historic launch of what they call the commercialization of Low Earth Orbit is expected to be in the second half of 2021.
No word yet on how much the trip will cost.
Axiom says it plans to offer two professional and private astronaut flights to ISS per year to align with flight opportunities as they are made available by NASA.
They will also be simultaneously constructing its own privately funded space station.