World's first space tourist set to fly around the Moon with SpaceX

• These types of private missions allow the company to test the technology they see as key to creating that future.

What's happening: SpaceX announced today that Tito, 82, and his wife Akiko Tito will circle the Moon with 10 other, yet-to-be-named crewmembers on the third crewed flight of the company's Starship, designed for deep space exploration.

• Tito's mission won't fly for years. It will launch after the Polaris flight expected to be the first crewed Starship launch and the dearMoon mission to orbit the Moon.
• "Over the course of a week, Starship and the crew will travel to the Moon, fly within 200 km of the Moon’s surface, and complete a full journey around the Moon before safely returning to Earth," SpaceX said in a statement.
• The Titos haven't said how much they're paying for the mission.

What to watch: Starship has yet to fly to orbit, but SpaceX is expected to launch its debut orbital flight at some point in the coming months from Texas.

• From there, the company will launch uncrewed flights to try out the technology before eventually putting people onboard.