Posted: Fri, Feb 5, 2021, 6:30 PM ET (2330 GMT)
A billionaire entrepreneur has purchased a Crew Dragon flight from SpaceX, and will use contests to fill some of its seats. Jared Isaacman, the founder and chief executive of online payment processing company Shift4 Payments, announced Monday he purchased the Crew Dragon mission, scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of this year on a flight lasting two to four days in Earth orbit, but without a docking with the International Space Station. Isaacman will occupy one of the four seats on the "Inspiration4" mission, with a "front-line health care worker" from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital also flying. The third seat will go to the winner of a raffle intended to raise funds for the hospital, while the last seat will go to the winner of a contest affiliated with Shift4 Payments. Isaacman did not reveal how much he paid for the flight.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  New York Times article
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•  Axios article