SpaceX is looking to launch the world’s first all-civilian spaceflight as early as 2021

This appeared in The Millennial Source

Monday’s announcement of the planned commercial spaceflight was dampened a bit the following day, when a prototype of SpaceX’s flagship space vessel, Starship, crashed and exploded upon landing.

By the end of 2021, it is possible that the first fully commercial spaceflight will have taken place, marking a new phase in humanity’s exploration of outer space. At least, that’s the goal of SpaceX and its billionaire chief executive officer, Elon Musk, who announced on February 1 that the company intended to launch an orbital spaceflight completely manned by civilians, possibly by the end of this year.

While civilians have flown to space before, this multiday flight would be the first to have no government-employed astronauts onboard. The mission will be led by Jared Isaacman, an American billionaire, but the three other members of the team have yet to be announced.

Musk has long stated his goal for SpaceX is to make spaceflight cheaper, while also providing a potential escape hatch for humanity if the earth becomes uninhabitable. To that end, SpaceX has been focusing on perfecting rockets that can land after being launched and then be reused. In February 2020, SpaceX announced its goal of…