SpaceX announced its intention to send four people deeper into orbit than any private citizen before them, in a mission that could cost more than $100 million and take place by 2022.

SpaceX announced its intention to send four people deeper into orbit than any private citizen before them, in a mission that could cost more than $100 million and take place by 2022. A new partnership with Space Adventures precedes this announcement and the new business partner of SpaceX is based in Washington, serving as an intermediary to send eight space tourists to the International Space Station (ISS) via Russian Soyuz rockets. The first person to have paid for this service was Dennis Tito who spent eight hours on the ISS in 2001 for $20 million. 2009 was the year Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque du Soleil Space Adventures' last customer, decided to book a trip to the ISS. See: After a successful rocket abort system test, SpaceX to carry humans into orbit this year Future customers will be transported to their destination on SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, which was developed to transport NASA astronauts and is due to make its first crewed flight in the coming months. President of Space Adventures, Tom Shelley stated that at its earliest, the mission could take place by late 2021, though "probably more likely is sometime in 2022." The duration of the mission will depend on the demands of the customers, stated Shelley. The capsule designed to take astronauts from the surface to the ISS is nine square meters in volume with no private areas to sleep, shower or use the bathroom. Weeks of training [ SpaceX chief Elon Musk speaks during a press conference (Courtesy: AFP) ] The cost of launching a Falcon 9 rocket is $62 million, according to publicly available figures, then there will be the cost of building a fresh Dragon capsule. Could it exceed $100 million? The funding required to launch a Falcon 9 rocket is $62 million as per publicly available data. Adding to that is the cost of building a fresh Dragon capsule, which has made many suspect the cost for the trip would exceed $100 million. Shelley had this to say when asked about the cost, "It's not cheap. Your assessment is correct, I can't comment specifically on the numbers, but yeah those are the cost components." "We have a pretty good network of high net worth individuals around the world, many of whom we know are interested in spaceflight," he added. See: SpaceX shows off upcoming missions The company announced in 2005 plans to send tourists around the Moon - but that mission has now been abandoned, confirmed Shelley. Other companies involved in space tourism are Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. The offer from SpaceX is far more ambitious and utilises the same reusable Falcon 9 rocket that puts satellites into space and sends astronauts to the ISS. Much like SpaceX and other companies, Boeing also has plans to send passengers into space, but the development of their program has been marred by major glitches that resulted in the early termination of an uncrewed test flight in December.

SpaceX announces partnership to send four people into deep orbit

A SpaceX reusable cargo ship splashed down in the Pacific Ocean safely on Sunday, ending a mission to supply astronauts on the International Space Station, the company said.

The Dragon capsule, the only such vessel capable of returning research samples and other material to Earth, remained docked with the ISS for nearly a month after delivering more than two tonnes of food, water and scientific equipment for NASA on February 23.

Before its departure, the crew loaded the cargo ship with old equipment, waste and almost 4,000 pounds of research samples from experiments carried out in the station`s condition of microgravity.

Released by the ISS&#39;s robot arm at 0900 GMT, the capsule undertook a more than six-hour journey back to Earth,landing off the coast of Mexico just before 1600 GMT, its final descent slowed by three giant parachutes.

&quot;Today we said goodbye to the #Dragon!&quot; tweeted the French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, one of six crew members, who arrived on the ISS in November.

&quot;She is taking part of us back to the ground with her - important scientific samples, some from the crew!&quot;

(AFP)

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The capsule, the only such vessel capable of returning research samples and other material to Earth, remained docked with the ISS for nearly a month

A SpaceX reusable cargo ship splashed down in the Pacific Ocean safely on Sunday, ending a mission to supply astronauts on the International Space Station, the company said. The Dragon capsule, the only such vessel capable of returning research samples and other material to Earth, remained docked with the ISS for nearly a month after delivering more than two tonnes of food, water and scientific equipment for NASA on February 23. Before its departure, the crew loaded the cargo ship with old equipment, waste and almost 4,000 pounds of research samples from experiments carried out in the station`s condition of microgravity. Released by the ISS's robot arm at 0900 GMT, the capsule undertook a more than six-hour journey back to Earth,landing off the coast of Mexico just before 1600 GMT, its final descent slowed by three giant parachutes. "Today we said goodbye to the #Dragon!" tweeted the French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, one of six crew members, who arrived on the ISS in November. "She is taking part of us back to the ground with her - important scientific samples, some from the crew!" (AFP)

Watch: SpaceX Dragon returns to Earth

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SpaceX announces partnership to send four people into deep orbit

Watch: SpaceX Dragon returns to Earth