In the fourth quarter of this year, it is planned to send the Crew Dragon ship "with the world's first fully commercial crew" into orbit.
This was reported by the American company SpaceX.
As part of the mission, called Inspiration 4, one of the four flight participants will be Jared Isaacman, the founder of Shift4 Payments. He is going to donate the remaining three seats to people whose names will be announced by the end of the month.
The 37-year-old businessman and avid pilot fully paid for the mission. The amount is not disclosed. He also intends to use the space flight to raise $200 million in donations for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis (Tennessee), which specializes in the treatment of children's diseases, including cancer. Anyone who makes the largest donation to the children's hospital can become a member of the crew.
According to Isaacman, the expected total amount of donations will significantly exceed the cost of the mission.
The founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, said that the flight will last from two to four days. "This is an important milestone on the way to opening access to space for everyone," he said at a press conference.
Before the flight, all members of the mission crew will have to undergo thorough training at SpaceX.
The launch of the ship will be carried out with the help of a Falcon 9 launch vehicle from the launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida.
At the end of the mission, Crew Dragon will make a soft landing off the coast of Florida, SpaceX said.
