Maezawa wants you: Japan billionaire seeks 'crew' for moon trip
02/03/2021 22:25
By Sam Nussey
TOKYO, March 3 (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 for the weeklong
voyage slated for 2023.
The rejigged project will "give more people from around the
globe the chance to join this journey. If you see yourself as an
artist, then you are an artist," Maezawa said.
The first stage of the application process runs to March 14.
The entrepreneur, who sold his online fashion business Zozo
Inc 3092.T to SoftBank in 2019, is paying the entire cost of
the voyage on SpaceX's next-generation reusable launch vehicle,
dubbed the Starship.
Two recent prototypes have exploded during testing,
underscoring the risks for Maezawa, 45, and his fellow
passengers, who must also contend with the strains of space
travel in the first private journey beyond Earth's orbit.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2K82QF
"This mission we expect people will go further than any
human has ever gone from Planet Earth," Musk said, days after
SpaceX completed its latest $850 million fundraising, which has
helped turn the businessman into one of the world's richest
people. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KT40G
Maezawa is known for his art and supercar collections, and
the cash giveaways that have made him Japan's most-followed
Twitter account. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N29J2J5
Last year he launched a short-lived documentary search for a
new girlfriend to join him on the trip before pulling out citing
"mixed feelings." urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N29Z14F
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
((sam.nussey@tr.com; https://twitter.com/SamNusseyRTRS;
+81345632760;))