For the first time, a civilian-only crew will fly into space and remain in orbit – between 300 and 1000 km from the Earth’s surface – for three days. The mission, called Inspiration4, will take part in 4 people who will travel aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, launched into space by the thrust of the Falcon 9 rocket, also built by the company of which Elon Musk is CEO. The Inspiration4 crew will leave on September 15th.
The flight is sponsored by Jared Isaacman, a 38-year-old billionaire and CEO of Shift4 Payments, who bought a seat for himself – and three other people – at a cost of about $ 50 million each. Isaacman, who is also an aircraft pilot and the co-founder of Draken International, a private company with a fleet of more than 150 (ex-military) fighter jets, has decided to take three ordinary people with him to the stars, in attempt to democratize space.
The mission will also be attended by Hayley Arceneaux, employee of a pediatric hospital, Christopher Sembroski, data engineer, and Sian Proctor, professor of geology and science popularizer.The mission will be told by Netflix, which will also follow the launch live.