TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on Wednesday launched a search for eight people to join him as the first private passenger on a trip around the moon with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
He originally planned to invite artists for the week-long journey for 2023.
The rejected project will “give more people from all over the world the chance to take part in this journey. If you see yourself as an artist, then you are an artist, ”said Maezawa.
The first phase of the application process lasts until March 14.
The entrepreneur, who sold his online fashion company Zozo Inc to SoftBank in 2019, will pay the full travel expenses on SpaceX’s next-generation reusable launch vehicle, called Starship.
Two recent prototypes exploded during the blast, highlighting the risks to Maezawa, 45, and his fellow passengers, who will also have to face the battle of space in the first private voyage off Earth.
“We expect this mission to go beyond what any human has ever done on planet Earth,” Musk said, days after SpaceX completed its latest $ 850 million fundraiser, helping the businessman become one of the richest people. to make in the world.
Maezawa is known for his art collection and supercar collection, and the cash handouts that made him Japan’s most followed Twitter account.
Last year, he launched a short-lived documentary search for a new girlfriend to travel with him before calling it ‘mixed feelings’.
Reporting by Sam Nussey; Edited by Gerry Doyle