Musk’s SpaceX to Launch All-Civilian Mission to Space in Q4 By Investing.com

By Yasin Ebrahim

SpaceX said it plans to launch an all-civilian crew to space in the fourth quarter of the year, marking a new era of commercial space exploration.

The mission will be commanded by Jared Isaacman, the 37-year-old founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments Inc (NYSE:FOUR), on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The move marked another boost for civilian space-tourism and ties in with Founder Elon Musk’s mission to colonize Mars.  

“The mission will launch from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will be carefully monitored at every step by SpaceX mission control as the spacecraft orbits the planet every 90 minutes along a customized flight path. Upon conclusion of the multi-day journey, Dragon will reenter Earth’s atmosphere for a soft water landing off the coast of Florida.,” SpaceX said.

Shift4 Payments is providing marketing support for the mission and will leverage one of the biggest popular culture events of the year, Super Bowl LV this Sunday, to dramatically introduce the mission and its purpose to the public. 

Rival company Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE:SPCE) rallied 7%.