TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa launched a search for eight people on Wednesday 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 on the week-long trip scheduled for 2023.
The renewed project will “give more people from all over the world the opportunity to participate in this journey. If you see yourself as an artist, then you are an artist, ”said Maezawa.
The first phase of the application process will run until March 14.
The entrepreneur, who sold his online fashion company Zozo Inc to SoftBank in 2019, will pay the full cost of the trip on SpaceX’s next-generation reusable launch vehicle called the Starship.
Two recent prototypes detonated during testing, underscoring the risks facing 45-year-old Maezawa and his fellow passengers, who also face the stresses of space travel during the first private trip outside of Earth’s orbit.
“We expect people on this mission to go further than any human has ever left planet Earth,” said Musk, days after SpaceX completed its latest $ 850 million fundraiser, making the businessman one of the world’s richest people. .
Maezawa is known for his art and supercar collections, and the cash giveaways that have made him Japan’s most followed Twitter account.
Last year, he launched a short-lived search for a new girlfriend to travel with, before retiring citing “mixed feelings.”
Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Gerry Doyle