That’s one small step for man and one giant leap for civilian-kind.
SpaceX announced plans for its first fully civilian-manned space flight in a statement released on Monday. Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment processing startup Shift4Shop, said three seats will be auctioned off to the highest bidders in an effort to open up space travel to non-astronauts.
“Inspiration4 is the realization of a lifelong dream and a step towards a future in which anyone can venture out and explore the stars,” Isaacman said. “I appreciate the tremendous responsibility that comes with commanding this mission, and I want to use this historic moment to inspire humanity while helping to tackle childhood cancer here on Earth.”
Isaacman, who will be heading up and funding the mission, said that the auction is part of a fundraiser benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, adding that he’s already donated $100 million to the hospital.
The mission, which is due to launch late this year, will be manned by three others in addition to Isaacman. Though the identity of the second member has yet to be released, the tech entrepreneur has revealed that she is a front-line healthcare worker who is “committed to helping kids beat cancer,” according to CNN.
The other two members will be decided through contests, the first of which is an online fundraiser asking entrants to donate money to St. Jude’s for a chance to be selected for the flight. The second will be limited to users of Shift4Shop, who will be invited to create an online store and share a video describing their “entrepreneurial story.” Those videos will be reviewed by a panel of celebrity judges.
Members of the flight crew will reportedly train together in several mission-specific tasks long before they make it to space, including emergency preparedness training, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises, and partial- and full-mission simulation.
Though not an astronaut, Isaacman is an experienced fighter pilot. In 2012, he founded Draken International, a large private fleet of fighter jets that are used to train members of the U.S. military for aerial combat.
It is unclear how long the trip will be, but during a call with reporters on Monday, Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, indicated the flight could be anywhere from two to four days long.
“But if you wanna stay up longer, that’s fine, too,” Musk told Isaacman.
