Four amateur astronauts have splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean after spending three days orbiting the Earth onboard an Elon Musk Crew Dragon space craft, reports the BBC.

Although it difficult seeing this leading to widespread space tourism, by having ‘average people’ going into space, it could open up a real race to the stars.

The Inspiration4 team was led by billionaire Jared Isaacman, 38, chief executive of the e-commerce firm Shift4 Payments Inc, who acted as mission “commander”.

He had paid an undisclosed sum – estimated by Time magazine to be about $200 million (£145 million) – to fellow billionaire Elon Musk for all four seats aboard the Crew Dragon.

This trip makes it the third time Musk’s space company has taken humans into space.

“Welcome to the second space age,” mission director Todd Ericson told a press conference, saying that after this, “space travel becomes much more accessible to average men and women.”

At that cost, however, it is difficult seeing “average men and women” lining up to buy a ticket.

Onboard computer systems were in control of the Dragon capsule during its journey, overseen by SpaceX teams on the ground. The crew, who underwent six months’ training, circled the Earth more than 15 times each day.

Experts gathered data on their blood oxygen levels, sleep, cognitive abilities and other vital signs during the trip, to study the impact being in space would have on non-professionals.

The trip will raise funds for St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, in Tennessee, where crew member Hayley Arceneaux was treated as a child, and now works.