A Japanese billionaire who has already booked a seat on the first private flight to the moon says he’s willing to bring eight companions along — and he’ll pay their way.
Yusaku Maezawa on Tuesday put out an open call for people who want to join him on the SpaceX rocket, which is set to head to the moon in 2023.
“Are you satisfied with what you’re doing right now? By going to space could you do something that’s even better, even bigger? If that sounds like you, please join me,” Maezawa said in a video detailing his plans.
“I will pay for the entire journey. I have bought all the seats so it will be a private ride,” he said.
Maezawa, 45, an e-commerce billionaire, says he’s open to people with “all kinds of backgrounds.” He said he first thought to bring artists but has since “evolved.”
“The more I thought about it, the more ambiguous it became,” he said in the video. “And I began to think that maybe every single person who is doing something creative could be called an artist.”
“That is why I want to reach out to a wider, more diverse audience, to give more people around the world the opportunity to join this journey. If you see yourself as an artist, then you’re an artist.”
Maezawa said there are two criteria: “First of all, whatever activity you are into, by going to space, I hope that you can push its envelope to help other people and greater society in some way. I want someone with that kind of potential to take part.”
He added: “By going to space could you do something that’s even better, even bigger?”
Second, he said, “You have to be willing and able to support other crew members who share similar aspirations.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk plans to fly 10 to 12 people on a six-day journey aboard the SpaceX Starship in what he says will be the first commercial space flight to carry non-astronauts beyond Earth’s orbit. The rocket will fly to the moon, loop behind it, then return to earth.
“This mission we expect people will go further than any human being has ever gone from planet Earth,” Musk said. “So I think this will be very exciting for people to tune in and watch this and enjoy it vicariously.”
Prospective astronauts must register on the dearmoon.earth website by March 14, then will undergo an initial screening, two rounds of interviews, and a medical checkup before eight are chosen in May.
The trip does come with some peril. SpaceX is still working on its Starship rocket as two of its prototypes exploded as they tried to land. But Musk said he is “highly confident” the spacecraft will reach orbit “many times” and be ready for human transport by 2023.
“What I’m most looking forward to is to see my home planet, the big blue earth, with my own eyes,” Maezawa said.