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 had originally planned to invite artists on a 2023 week-long trip.
The redesigned project “will give more people from all over the world the chance to join this journey. If you see yourself as an artist, then you are an artist, ”said Maezawa.
The first stage of the application process runs through March 14.
The businessman, who sold his online fashion business Zozo Inc to SoftBank in 2019, is paying the full cost of the trip in SpaceX’s next-generation reusable launch vehicle, dubbed the Starship.
Two recent prototypes exploded during the tests, highlighting the risks for Maezawa, 45, and his fellow travelers, who must also face the stresses of space travel on the first private journey beyond Earth’s orbit.
“We hope that people will go further than any human being has ever been to Planet Earth,” said Musk, days after SpaceX completed its $ 850 million fundraiser, which helped turn the entrepreneur into one of the most rich in the world.
Maezawa is known for his art collections and supercars, and for the cash prizes that made him the most followed Japanese account on Twitter.
Last year, he released a short documentary in search of a new girlfriend to join him on the trip before leaving, citing “mixed feelings”.
Reporting by Sam Nussey; Gerry Doyle Edition