SpaceX on Monday announced plans to send two private citizens on a trip around the moon in 2018.
The space tourists approached SpaceX with the idea, and have already paid the private space exploration firm a "significant deposit" to book their trip. SpaceX said it plans to conduct initial health and fitness tests and start training the duo later this year.
"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 wrote in its announcement.
SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk has been talking about making space tourism a thing for years, and now his plan is finally coming to fruition. The company in its announcement said other flight teams have expressed "strong interest" in heading to space, and it expects more to follow.
At this point, the identity of the two aspiring space travelers is a mystery. Could it be Justin Bieber? We'll just have to wait and find out. SpaceX promised to announce additional information about the flight team once they pass the necessary health and fitness tests and are approved for takeoff.
NASA on Monday evening tweeted its support for the mission, promising to continue working closely with SpaceX.
We commend our industry partners for reaching higher. We will work closely w/ @SpaceX. More: https://t.co/RpyAEWjicz https://t.co/fkGHZfloXG
— NASA (@NASA) February 28, 2017
As it gears up for that mission, SpaceX has a couple others planned: the company later this year plans to launch its Crew Dragon (Dragon Version 2) spacecraft to the International Space Station, first in automatic mode without passengers. Then, in the second quarter of 2018, the company plans to fly it again with a crew on board.
SpaceX said it's contracted to perform an average of four Dragon 2 missions to the ISS per year, three carrying cargo and one carrying crew.
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"By also flying privately crewed missions, which NASA has encouraged, long-term costs to the government decline and more flight reliability history is gained, benefiting both government and private missions," the company wrote.
Once those Crew Dragon missions are underway, SpaceX will launch the private mission to "circumnavigate the moon and return to Earth." The private space explorers will lift-off on a Dragon 2 spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A near Cape Canaveral, Fla. That's the same launch pad the Apollo program used for its lunar missions.
"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.