The rocket ship company founded by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, SpaceX, on Monday announced it will send two paying passengers on a one-week mission around the moon.
In a conference call announcing the move, Musk said both passengers have asked that they not be identified or provide other details about their background. The two passengers will ride in the SpaceX designed Dragon Capsule 2 and be launched from its Falcon Heavy rocket. The launch is scheduled to take place in late 2018.
"They have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission," the company said in a blog post.
Musk said the passengers will fly past the surface of the moon, travel into deep space and return.
SpaceX currently has a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA to resupply the International Space Station. Plans also call for SpaceX to deliver astronauts back and forth.
"This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years, and they will travel faster and further into the solar system than any before them," SpaceX said.
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