SpaceX Finally Has Its First Tourist To Fly Around The Moon
The likes of Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have undoubtedly advanced space and rocket technology in the past few years but, make no mistake, their goals aren't philanthropic. Sooner rather than later, they will need to recoup their investments in the form of commercial space travel, especially space tourism. SpaceX might have just taken the lead in that race yet again by announcing that it already has the first private passenger with the courage to make a round trip tour around the moon.
There's still a lot of unknowns here, especially who that brave soul is. On SpaceX's Twitter account, Elon Musk teased the fact, saying that it will bare all next week. Including why said person is crazy enough to make that trip. Certified astronauts are out of the question if this is a private passenger.
Said passenger will be riding aboard SpaceX's BFR, short for Big Falcon (or Fat?) Rocket. Until early this year, SpaceX was expected to use its Falcon Heavy rockets to carry human cargo to space. Musk, however, announced a change in direction, putting its resources on the BFR instead.
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. Find out who's flying and why on Monday, September 17. pic.twitter.com/64z4rygYhk
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 14, 2018
Of course, that doesn't mean the BFR is ready for such a voyage yet. Having a sure passenger doesn't exactly mean it's going to happen immediately, especially if the BFR itself is hardly ready to make its maiden voyage. Given Musk's recent bout of infamy, it won't be a surprise if he reveals himself as his own first passenger.