Elon Musk's SpaceX to fly first civilian crew to space later this year

Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies is planning the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight later this year, to be led by a technology entrepreneur who will be joined by three other people.

The flight is expected to launch in the fourth quarter, SpaceX and Jared Isaacman said in a statement on Monday. Isaacman, the founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments, a payment processor, said he wants the planned multiday “Inspiration4” flight on SpaceX’s Dragon vehicle to inspire support for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The mission bolsters Musk’s efforts to make human spaceflight more common. SpaceX took a big leap last