SpaceX is targeting the fourth quarter of this year for Falcon 9’s launch of Inspiration4 – the first all-commercial astronaut mission to orbit. The mission will launch from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX says Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, is donating the three seats alongside him aboard Dragon to individuals from the general public who will be announced in the weeks ahead. Those interested on how to potentially join the historic journey to space can learn more by visiting Inspiration4.com.
The Inspiration4 crew will receive commercial astronaut training by SpaceX on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, orbital mechanics, operating in microgravity, zero gravity, and other forms of stress testing. They will go through emergency preparedness training, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises, as well as partial and full mission simulations, the company says.
The excursion will be a multi-day journey, orbiting Earth every 90 minutes along a customized flight path and will be carefully monitored at every step by SpaceX mission control. Upon conclusion of the mission, Dragon will reenter Earth’s atmosphere for a soft water landing off the coast of Florida.