SpaceX航天公司計劃明年載2位市民繞月飛行

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said he's planning a private space mission to transport two paying passengers around the Moon late next year.

SpaceX創始人埃隆·馬斯克日前表示自己正在籌劃一項私人航天任務，於2018年年底搭載兩名付費乘客進行繞月飛行。

Musk said SpaceX was approached by "two private individuals" who know one another, but whom he did not identify.

馬斯克表示，"兩位個人乘客"找到了SpaceX，這兩人互相認識，但馬斯克並未透露其身份。

SpaceX provided additional details on its website, noting that the two passengers have already paid a significant deposit and will undergo initial training later this year.

SpaceX官網提供了更多細節，稱這兩名乘客已交付一大筆押金，並將於今年年底接受初步訓練。

The trip around the Moon will take about one week: it will skim the surface of the Moon, go further out into deep space and loop back to Earth - approximately 300,000 to 400,000 miles.

繞月飛行將耗時約一週：飛船將從月球表面飛掠而過，進一步深入外太空，然後飛回地球--飛行里程約爲30萬至40萬英里(約48萬至64萬公里)。

"I think there's a market for one or two of these per year," Musk said, estimating that space tourist fares charged by SpaceX could eventually contribute 10% to 20% of the company's revenue.

馬斯克說道："我認爲此類市場需求爲每年一兩次"。他估計SpaceX收取的太空旅行費用或將最終貢獻10%-20%的公司營收。

Next year is going to be a big year for carrying people to the space station, Musk said.

此外，馬斯克還表示，明年將是人類太空旅行的大年。