The dawn of space tourism: Elon Musk's SpaceX to send two paying private citizens to the moon in historic mission set for lift-off next year

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Elon Musk's SpaceX will launch a crewed mission beyond the moon for two private paying customers in 2018, it has been revealed. 

It will be the first time in 45 years humans have been in deep space, said the company, promising its mission will go 'faster and further' than any humans before them.

The week-long mission will take place some time in late 2018 and will 'skim the surface of the moon' then venture into deep space before returning to Earth, Musk revealed.  

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Elon Musk's SpaceX will launch a crewed mission beyond the moon for two private customers in 2018, it has been revealed. 'We have been approached by private individuals,' said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, on a call with reporters on Monday.

The identity of the customers and how much they paid has been kept secret.

SpaceX expects the mission to take place some time in late 2018, after it sends a crewed NASA Dragon craft to the International Space Station.

'We have been approached by private individuals,' said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, after announcing the mission by tweeting 'fly me to the moon... ok'.

'This is a private mission with paying customers, who have placed significant deposits,' Musk said, but added that they have so far not authorized the company to reveal their names.

Musk said the individuals know each other and are 'very serious' about the flight 

'This is a really exciting thing that's happened,' Musk told reporters.

The mission will use one of SpaceX's Dragon capsules, which will be modified to allow communications in deep space.

Musk said it would be roughly the cost of a crewed mission to the International Space Station, and that other flight crews have already expressed interest in later flights.

'This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years and they will travel faster and further into the Solar System than any before them,' SpaceX said. 

The mission would 'do a long loop around the moon' and would take about a week.

'It would skim the surface of the moon, go quite a bit further out into deep space' and then return to Earth, Musk said.

'There is some risk here,' he said, adding the hopeful passengers are not 'naive' about the dangers.

SpaceX will begin holding health and fitness tests later this year, it said.

'Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration,' SpaceX said.

The mission will use one of SpaceX's Dragon capsules, which will be modified to allow communications in deep space. It will be capable of operating autonomously throughout the whole flight, but the passengers will be trained in emergency procedures.

'Additional information will be released about the flight teams, contingent upon their approval and confirmation of the health and fitness test results.' 

To complete the mission, the company will have to invest in deep space communication technology, which will also be important for the company's planned trips to Mars.

The Dragon will be capable of operating autonomously throughout the whole flight, but the passengers will be trained in emergency procedures.

 NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which provided most of the funding for Dragon 2 development, is a key enabler for this mission, SpaceX said.

The customers will blast off on the Falcon Heavy rocket, which was developed with internal SpaceX funding. Falcon Heavy is due to launch its first test flight this summer and, once successful, will be the most powerful vehicle to reach orbit after the Saturn V moon rocket. At 5 million pounds of liftoff thrust, Falcon Heavy is two-thirds the thrust of Saturn V and more than double the thrust of the next largest launch vehicle currently flying.

It will use the firm's Falcon Heavy rocket, which was developed with internal SpaceX funding.

Falcon Heavy is due to launch its first test flight this summer and, once successful, will be the most powerful vehicle to reach orbit after the Saturn V moon rocket.  

At 5 million pounds of liftoff thrust, Falcon Heavy is two-thirds the thrust of Saturn V and more than double the thrust of the next largest launch vehicle currently flying.

 NASA backed the plan, saying it 'commends its industry partners for reaching higher.

'We will work closely with SpaceX to ensure it safely meets the contractual obligations to return the launch of astronauts to U.S. soil and continue to successfully deliver supplies to the International Space Station,' the space agency said in a statement. 

Earlier this year, SpaceX chief, Elon Musk, announced that he was 'planning to send Dragon to Mars as soon as 2018.' 

Now, the firm has admitted it won't make that date - but is aiming for 2020.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell revealed the new timeline at a press briegfing for the company's recent launch from NASA's historic launch pad 39A.

Inside a Dragon: The cabin of the Dragon V2 spacecraft is pictured after it was unveiled in 2014 - the new mission will have just two seats for paying customers, it is believed

'We were focused on 2018, but we felt like we needed to put more resources and focus more heavily on our crew program and our Falcon Heavy program,' she said.

'So we're looking more in the 2020 timeframe for that.'

Red Dragon is a precursor for SpaceX's ambitious Mars plans, which company founder Elon Musk unveiled at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico in September. 

Those involve the development of giant reusable launch vehicles and spacecraft to carry up to 100 people at a time from Earth to Mars.

Shotwell said work on those concepts has been a lower priority as it works on near-term programs such as its commercial lunches, and plans to launch manned versions of the Dragon, also from Pad 39A, carrying astronauts to the ISS.

'We need to finish the work that we're doing right now,' she said, referring to development of commercial crew and Falcon Heavy. 

'Then you'll start to see a shift in development teams at SpaceX.'

'A year or so is when we'll start to shift focus, that's my guess,' she said.

Musk says the unmanned spaceship to the red planet could become a regular cargo route running every 26 months.

It will be followed by his  'interplanetary transport system' to take man to Mars in 80 days and build a sustainable human colony of a million people there.

Elon Musk's SpaceX will launch a crewed mission beyond the moon for two private customers in 2018, it has been revealed. 'We have been approached by private individuals,' said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, on a call with reporters on Monday.

The Dragon will be an updated version of the capsule currently used to ferry cargo to the ISS, pictured here. It  will be capable of operating autonomously throughout the whole flight, but the passengers will be trained in emergency procedures.

'What I want to achieve is make Mars seem possible, to show that we can do it in our lifetimes, and you could go,' he said at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico.

However, he warned the trip was likely to be dangerous - and said candidates for the first missions 'must be prepared to die'. 

The Interplanetary Transport System will use a giant rocket booster with a 12m diameter and 49 engines, and a special shuttle with a 17m diameter, making the entire rocket stack 122 m high.

They will launch with empty fuel tanks and refuel in orbit.

Once on Mars, they would make more methane fuel for the return journey.  

The adapted Red Dragon would include a robotic arm, extra fuel tanks and a central tube that houses a rocket-powered Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and an Earth Return Vehicle (ERV).

Speaking to The Washington Post, Mr Musk, who is the chief executive of SpaceX, drew parallels between people crossing the oceans in centuries past to unknown worlds.

He said that the journey to Mars was going to be 'hard, risky, dangerous and difficult', however he was confident people would still sign up to go because 'just as with the establishment of the English colonies, there are people who love that. They want to be the pioneers.'

However, before SpaceX can begin to send people to the red planet, unmanned travel and a supply chain must be developed successfully.

Mr Musk said: 'Essentially what we're saying is we're establishing a cargo route to Mars.

Touchdown!The Dragon capsule the customers will use is also designed to land on the surface of any planet using retractable legs - but Musk says it will 'skim the surface' of the moon on this trip

In a series of posts Musk showed the mission - here, the craft can be seen approaching the surface

'It's a regular cargo route. You can count on it. It's going to happen every 26 months. Like a train leaving the station. 

'And if scientists around the world know that they can count on that, and it's going to be inexpensive, relatively speaking compared to anything in the past, then they will plan accordingly and come up with a lot of great experiments.'

The mission is private and will not be funded by the US government or Nasa. 

However, Nasa has previously said it would provide 'technical support' for the 2018 mission. 

Separately, Nasa is also studying the effects of long-term space flight on the human body, and has announced plans to send people to Mars by the 2030s. 

Elon Musk appeared to be referring to an upgraded version of the California-based company's Dragon cargo capsule, which is currently used as an unmanned spacecraft to shuttle food and supplies to and from the International Space Station

SpaceX plans to make that launch in 2018, although the Falcon Heavy rocket that will carry the company's Dragon capsule to will not have its first test flight until later in 2016. Nasa, which is aiming for a human mission to Mars in the 2030s, said it will provide technical support for SpaceX's first foray, known as Red Dragon

It is currently unclear how people would survive the long journey of a year or more in space, needing adequate food and water and protection from space radiation during the trip.

Mr Musk has previously spoken of his vision of creating a colony of a million earthlings on Mars, in order to make humanity 'multi-planetary' and avoid the risk of extinction on Earth.

ELON MUSK'S 'INTERPLANETARY TRANSPORT SYSTEM' 

Last month, Elon Musk unveiled his most ambitious project yet - an 'Interplanetary Transport System' to take mankind to Mars in 80 days and build a sustainable human colony of a million people there.

'What I want to achieve is make Mars seem possible, to show that we can do it in our lifetimes, and you could go,' he said at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico.

Elon Musk said the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) would be powerful enough to fly between Mars and Earth outside of its orbital period of 26 months if there was an emergency (artist's impression)

However, he warned the trip was likely to be dangerous - and said candidates for the first missions 'must be prepared to die'.  

The Interplanetary Transport System will use a giant rocket booster with a 39 foot (12m) diameter and 49 engines, and a special shuttle with a 56 foot (17m) diameter, making the entire rocket stack 400 feet (122m) high. 

They will launch with empty fuel tanks and refuel in orbit.

Once on Mars, they would make more methane fuel for the return journey. 

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His most recent feats include managing to return the first stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets to an upright landing on water and on solid ground, as part of his effort to make rockets that are as reusable as airplanes.

Speaking about his plans, he said: 'This is going to be mind blowing. I'm so tempted to talk more about the details of it. But I have to restrain myself.' 

'It's dangerous and probably people will die—and they'll know that,' he continued. 

'And then they'll pave the way, and ultimately it will be very safe to go to Mars, and it will very comfortable. But that will be many years in the future.' 

THE RACE TO BUILD REUSABLE ROCKETS 

Reusable rockets would cut costs and waste in the space industry, which currently loses millions of dollars in jettisoned machinery after each launch. 

Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency are also developing similar technology and are in testing stages.

A Dragon on Mars: The mission would grab samples collected by Nasa's 2020 rover and return them to Earth.

Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com and owner of The Washington Post newspaper, said last month that Blue Origin expects to begin crewed test flights of the New Shepard, the company's flagship rocket, next year and begin flying paying passengers as early as 2018.

SpaceX has managed to land four rockets from space back on Earth, three on sea and one on land, while Blue Origin's New Shepard successfully completed a third launch and vertical landing in April this year.

The Indian space agency also hopes to develop its own frugal shuttle, as it seeks to cash in on a huge and lucrative demand from other countries to send up their satellites, after a successful test launch last month.

Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com and owner of The Washington Post newspaper, said last month that Blue Origin expects to begin crewed test flights of the New Shepard, the company's flagship rocket (pictured) next year and begin flying paying passengers as early as 2018

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