SpaceX announces first commercial astronaut mission to orbit Earth aboard Dragon

Dragon spacecraft. (SpaceX)

by: KVEO Staff

Posted: Feb 1, 2021 / 05:00 PM CST

Updated: Feb 1, 2021 / 05:07 PM CST

Harlingen, Texas (KVEO)—SpaceX announced new plans Monday to launch a crew of only private astronauts into orbit — the world’s first such mission.

SpaceX: Starship launch scheduled for Friday canceled

Announcing the first commercial astronaut mission to orbit Earth aboard Dragon → https://t.co/MbESvnakAD pic.twitter.com/ukLsjFfRjk
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 1, 2021

SpaceX cancels Starship launch scheduled for Thursday

SpaceX announced the news via Twitter. The Elon Musk-led company said it is targeting no earlier than the fourth quarter of this year for Falcon 9’s launch of Inspiration4, the world’s first all-commercial astronaut mission to orbit.

This mission enables access for everyday people who dream of going to space
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 1, 2021

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, according to SpaceX.

The crew will go through emergency preparedness training, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises, as well as partial and full mission simulations.

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