On September 16, a 25-year-old record for the number of people in space at the same time can be broken, cosmonautics historian Alexander Zheleznyakov told RIA Novosti . According to him, after the launch of the SpaceX Inspiration4 charity mission, 14 people from the United States, China, Russia, France and Japan may be in low-Earth orbit at once.
The specialist recalled that in March 1995, 13 people were in space at the same time. Of these, six are on the Russian Mir space station and seven are on the American Space Shuttle Endeavour. In July 2009, the same number of people were on the International Space Station (ISS). "This was the moment when the greatest number of cosmonauts were in low — Earth orbit," Zheleznyakov said.
The expert recalled that currently there are seven people from the United States, Russia, France and Japan on the ISS. In addition, three taikonauts are located at the Chinese Tiangong orbital station. If SpaceX launches the Crew Dragon charity mission with four US citizens on September 16, the 25-year record will be broken. "After the launch of the Inspiration4 mission, if it takes place on September 16, there will be a moment when 14 people will be in space at the same time. And then the record for the population of the near-Earth orbit will be broken, " Zheleznyakov noted.
In September, Bloomberg wrote that Kuiper Systems, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, in an appeal to the US Federal Communications Commission, sharply commented on the actions of SpaceX, accusing it of violating and ignoring general rules. The company controlled by the American billionaire Jeff Bezos said that Elon Musk's SpaceX adheres to the position that " the rules are intended for other people."
During the Inspiration4 mission, it is planned to launch four people at once using the Falcon 9 rocket on the Crew Dragon spacecraft-billionaire Jared Isaacman, researcher Sian Proctor, assistant doctor Hayley Knox and a veteran of the Air Force (Air Force) USA by Christopher Sembroski. The ship will be in low Earth orbit for three days. There are no plans to dock with the ISS. The Inspiration4 mission will be the first civilian mission for Crew Dragon. Its goal is to raise funds for the treatment of children with cancer. The mission was fully paid for by Isaakman.
Ivan Potapov