SpaceX’s Inspiration4 is the first all civilian space mission, breaking from a long tradition of NASA leadership and military-trained pilots. Funded by a billionaire CEO (Jared Isaacman, also the mission commander), the mission team just announced its final two crew members to join Isaacman and physician assistant and cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux on the journey. 

Dr. Sian Proctor, a geoscientist and educator, won her spot through an entrepreneurship competition for “demonstrating innovation and ingenuity” using Isaacman’s Shift4Shop platform. She is extremely well-qualified to be an astronaut, too — she completed multiple trips on Earth as an “analog astronaut” and has been a finalist in NASA’s Astronaut Program. Chris Sembroski, an engineer, Air Force veteran, and all-around space enthusiast, won his seat through a raffle where proceeds went to St. Jude’s.

Launch is planned for September 2021, and these new astronauts will orbit Earth every 90 minutes for multiple days in SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule before returning home. This is by no means the first historic feat SpaceX has taken on — they were the first private company to launch a rocket successfully and the first to send astronauts to the International Space Station. They’ve also created the first reusable rocket, the Falcon 9, and currently have the largest satellite constellation in the world (although that one might not be such a good thing).

Despite their illustrious track record, they’re not the first company to get into space tourism — although they are the first to successfully make it happen without the government’s help. Billionaires have been buying tickets through Space Adventures (hopping aboard Soyuz spacecraft) for years, Jeff Bezos (of Amazon infamy) owns Blue Origin, and Sir Richard Branson has Virgin Galactic. Even more private space companies have appeared in recent years, showing us that we truly are on the verge of a new era of space exploration (for better or for worse), with SpaceX leading the way.