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SpaceX started talking about a crewed moon mission terminal yr, and as usual, it claimed a very ambitious timeline. The original 2022 launch ended upwards delayed as it took longer than expected to get the Falcon Heavy ready for flying. Now, SpaceX says its first orbital moon mission is dorsum on with a space tourist on board the upcoming SpaceX BFR (Big Falcon Rocket) vehicle. There are withal a lot of unanswered questions, though.

Starting time and foremost, nosotros don't know who the mysterious passenger is yet. A press event on Mon (September 17th) will allegedly reveal all. When asked if he was the passenger, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk simply replied with a Japanese flag emoji. That suggests the passenger is from Japan.[Nosotros've got awesome powers of deduction here at ExtremeTech. -Ed]

The more than technical details of the launch are also unclear at this fourth dimension. SpaceX originally promised this mission with the Falcon Heavy, but that rocket appears to exist falling out of favor. Falcon Heavy is basically three Falcon 9 rockets strapped together, and its only flight thus far involved launching a car into space as a demo. SpaceX is pushing to get the side by side-generation BFR into service as a replacement for both the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. It makes sense this vehicle would go on a moon mission, but when will it be set?

Even if the BFR is farther forth in development than we retrieve, launching a person surely won't be the first thing on the agenda. We're probably looking at years of testing and planning before the BFR is ready to bear a human passenger, and taking them to the moon and dorsum is much different than ferrying someone to the ISS. This will but be an orbital mission, but the passenger will exist farther from World than whatsoever other human being.

SpaceX hasn't confirmed it will reveal the toll of the trip, but it's probably many millions of dollars. It's possible this wealthy space tourist is funding all of the BFR mission, which isn't function of any existing launch contract from the government or individual industry. Maybe SpaceX will take a hit on the cost of sending someone to the moon just for the publicity. Afterwards all, no i has been to the moon since 1972, and only 24 humans have orbited or landed on the moon.

SpaceX has already posted a link to the webcast event, which will become live on September 17th and half dozen PM PT.

At present read: Boeing and SpaceX Might Not Exist Gear up for Manned Flights in 2022, NASA Agrees to Permit Astronauts Aboard SpaceX Rocket During Fueling, and SpaceX Test Fires Falcon Heavy Rocket