Space travel company Space Adventures has announced it has reached an agreement with SpaceX to send individuals into an orbit higher than that of the International Space Station.
Space Adventures said in a press release that the flights will be carried out on an autonomously piloted spacecraft Crew Dragon, which will carry up to 4 people.
The first flight may take place as early as the end of 2021. It will last up to five days. Before the start of the flight, space tourists will have to undergo several weeks of training in the United States.
Crew Dragon will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, presumably from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A.
Space Adventures said that Crew Dragon will reach an orbit two to three times higher than that of the ISS, which corresponds to about 500 to 750 miles (805-1207 km) above the Earth. Space tourists "will break the world altitude record for a private citizen and will be able to see the planet Earth in a way that no one has seen since the Gemini program," the company said.
Recall that during the manned flight of the Gemini 11 spacecraft as part of the Project Gemini mission in 1966, a record was set for being in an elliptical orbit at an altitude of 850 miles above the Earth.
Source: 3dnews.ru