In a first, SpaceX officials said Monday that the company plans to fly private, paying citizens around the moon next year. The Hawthorne-based space company said in a statement that the two individuals have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission in its Dragon 2 spacecraft. “This will be a private mission to a paying customer,” said Chief Executive Elon Musk. May 22, 2012: Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, becomes the first private company to launch a spacecraft to the International Space Station. Source: Times research by Scott Wilsonsamantha.masunaga@latimes.comTwitter: @smasunagaUPDATES:3:20 p.m.: This article was updated to include more information about the moon mission.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 27, 2017 21:29 UTC