Space tourism pioneer Dennis Tito books private moon trip on SpaceX's Starship

Entrepreneur Dennis Tito and his woman Akiko purchased seats connected a backstage travel with SpaceX's Starship rocket, the 3rd specified spaceflight Elon Musk's task has announced to date.

Tito – 82, and celebrated for becoming the archetypal backstage abstraction tourer aft flying with Russia to the International Space Station successful 2001 – bought 2 seats connected a SpaceX ngo that would alert a Starship to the satellite and backmost connected a week-long mission.

"I've been wanting to spell to the satellite since my archetypal travel to space," Tito said during a property league connected Wednesday.

Akiko, 57, is simply a existent property capitalist and pilot, who joined Dennis Tito successful 2020. Together they're expected to beryllium the archetypal joined mates to alert astir the moon.

Unlike the different 2 backstage Starship flights antecedently announced, the first 1 purchased by billionaire Jared Isaacman and the 2nd by billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, Tito and his woman did not bargain the full formation but alternatively 2 seats. That means the lunar formation is "open for 10 others to motion up," helium said.

Tito declined to remark connected the outgo of the seats, and a little SpaceX blog station did not notation immoderate fiscal arrangements.

SpaceX's manager of Starship unit and cargo programs, Aarti Matthews, said during the briefing that the program for Tito's formation is to walk 3 days flying to the moon, question wrong 125 miles (or astir 200 kilometers) of the lunar aboveground and past instrumentality to Earth.

"This ngo is truly groundbreaking successful that it puts america connected a precise steadfast measurement towards airline-like operations, wherever now, for the archetypal time, you tin bargain an idiosyncratic spot to the moon," Matthews said.

But timing for the ngo is yet to beryllium determined, and apt years away.

SpaceX has yet to scope orbit with a Starship prototype, has an costly and high-profile NASA astronaut satellite ngo nether contract, and needs to statesman utilizing the rocket to much rapidly deploy Starlink satellites. Plus, Tito's formation is 3rd successful the company's precedence of backstage unit missions announced frankincense far.

For his part, Tito emphasized that helium understands the travel astir the satellite "is not going to hap successful the adjacent term." He added that helium expects SpaceX volition implicit "hundreds" of Starship formation earlier helium and Akiko fly.

But his enthusiasm for the company's semipermanent goals is unabated. Two years agone Tito sold Wilshire Associates, the concern steadfast helium founded successful 1972. Since retiring, helium said, he's been "looking for thing to do."

"I've been pursuing SpaceX astir connected a regular basis, watching YouTube for the past 5 years, and I could spot that determination was an opportunity," Tito said.