SpaceX will send two people to the moon for a private mission sometime in 2018.

  • SpaceX to launch private moon mission in 2018
  • 2 private individuals would orbit the moon, return to Earth
  • SpaceX also plans to launch Dragon 2 capsule with crew in 2018
  • RELATED: Launch Schedule

SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced Monday that two people paid a "significant amount of money" for the trip.

The individuals would launch on the Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39A and go around the moon, but not land on the surface.

This mission would take about a week. While SpaceX did not say how much the individuals paid for the mission, the price is comparable to what a crewed mission to the International Space Station would be.

If successful, SpaceX will looking at doing a couple of these trips a year, which would give a big boost to the company's revenue.

Musk also announced that it will send its new Dragon 2 capsule to the International Space Station later this year.

If the mission is successful, the Dragon 2 capsule will be used to send a crew to the ISS in the second quarter of 2018. 

Once the Dragon crew missions get underway, SpaceX will launch the private moon mission later in the year.