Musk's SpaceX signs up first passenger, announces new plan for round-the-moon trip

LOS ANGELES: Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX on Friday signed up its first passenger for a flight around the moon, taking a giant leap toward commercialising space travel.
The person’s identity will be revealed on September 17, SpaceX said in a tweet. Asked whether he’d be the first passenger, Musk -- who’s also the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. -- posted an emoji of a Japanese flag.


SpaceX also announced a new plan to launch a tourist around the Moon using its Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), a massive launch vehicle that is being designed to carry people into deep space.

"SpaceX has signed the world's first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard our BFR launch vehicle -- an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space," the company said on Twitter.

SpaceX gave no further details, but said more information would follow on Monday.

Humans have not set foot on the Moon since the final Apollo mission in 1972, capping an era of US national pride.

American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to explore the lunar surface in 1969, a moment seen and heard around the world when Armstrong declared "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Only 24 people in history have ever been to the Moon.

SpaceX is a key commercial partner to NASA, and is working on a crew ship that will make its first flight to the orbiting International Space Station next year, restoring access to space from US soil for the first time since 2011, when the space shuttle program was retired after 30 years.

Musk’s SpaceX and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic LLC are among companies that are attempting to commercialize space travel. In July, billionaire Branson said he hoped to be sitting on a spaceship going to space before the end of the year.

SpaceX this month successfully launched a commercial satellite from Florida, marking the company’s 16th mission of 2018. Its valuation has climbed to about $28 billion, making it the third-most valuable venture-backed startup in the US after Uber Technologies and Airbnb

The company also has a contract to ferry American astronauts to the International Space Station.