Dennis Tito is the second billionaire to make a reservation for a flight around the moon
In 2001, Tito paid $20 million to go to the International Space Station. Now, the aerospace engineer and financial analyst has joined Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX to make reservations for a flight around the Moon in 2025. He and his wife, Akiko, are also pilots. But they are not willing to divulge how much they’re paying, just that they’d like to join the next generation of astronauts and take their first steps out into our solar system.
Tito’s reservation comes after two other billionaires who have already made reservations for flights around the moon. His upcoming flight will follow two piloted flights on SpaceX’s Super Heavy/Starship rocket, including one with fellow billionaire Jared Isaacman. Tito’s flight is expected to be about five years after Maezawa’s, but Tito did not mention the cost of the reservation.
His contract with SpaceX includes an option for a flight within five years
Tito Titobaru is the world’s first space tourist. He has signed up for a trip on Elon Musk’s Starship, which will bring him to within 125 miles (200 km) of the far side of the Moon. He will join 10 others on the trip. He will spend about $20 million to take the trip. The cost of the flight is not known. The trip will take about a week, and Tito will spend most of the time on the surface of the moon.
Tito, who is 57, and his wife, a 57-year-old pilot, are both excited about space travel. They share Musk’s vision of human space flight, and they hope to inspire others to join them. The couple recently sold their investment company, Wilshire Associates, and have no regrets about spending so much money on the mission.
The trip will take him within 200 km of the Moon
The trip will be a week-long excursion, and will bring him to within 200 kilometers of the Moon. It will cost $20 million to take Tito on the trip, and he will be joined by ten other passengers. It is not yet clear when the Starship will launch, but SpaceX has said that it plans to send a rocket into orbit around the moon before 2025.
The trip is part of the Artemis program, named for the goddess Artemis in Greek mythology. It began during the Trump administration, when the president decided to redirect his attention from failing to land on Mars, and ordered NASA to land Americans on the Moon by 2024. The Biden administration later embraced the program and reworked a promise to send the first woman and a person of color to the moon.
The Orion spacecraft will travel at high speed, reaching speeds of around 24,500 mph. It will take two astronauts a week to reach the Moon and back, with the first flight planned for 2025.