Japanese Billionaire Searches Partners For SpaceX Private Moon Trip
Elon Musks's SpaceX is set for take-off in 2023 and fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa is on a search for applicants to join him for a ride around the world when it does.
Via Twitter, Maezawa shared details of the application and called for applicants "from all kinds of backgrounds." The video, posted to YouTube, offered details of the application process and, as of Wednesday morning, had been seen more than 85,000 times.
The 45-year-old tycoon has stated that he will cover the costs of those lucky passengers selected to join his mission. He is hopeful that his quest can find eight lucky companions.
Yusaku is used to being a trendsetter as the billionaire CEO of Japanese fashion retailer Zozo became the first private passenger reserved for a ride on the expedition back in 2018. The highly coveted seat is one that many clamored for and Maezawa snatched up immediately. Now, he is opening the cabin for others to accompany him on this monumental moment in human history. They will be joined by three more in his party, making the twelve-seat journey an even more exclusive event.
"I have bought all the seats so it will be a private ride," he explained to NBC News.
The original intent was to fill the cabin with artists, but those plans changed when Yusaku felt it would be more beneficial to give a wider range of personalities the chance to view the world from a different perspective. It also made him question what, at its heart, an artist truly is.
"I wanted to reach out to a wider more diverse audience," he said. "If you see yourself as an artist then you are an artist."
This isn't the first time Maezawa has done an over-the-top spectacle in the public eye. A year ago, in February 2020, he began a search for a "soulmate" to join him on a moon-ride, but ended the contest after reviewing applications of close to 28,000 romantic hopefuls.
"Starship," the rocket set to fly on the week-long journey is still in development, but making major strides daily. While an unpiloted test flight of the rocket ended with a major explosion earlier this month, Elon Musk had told Joe Rogan on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast that when testing something of this magnitude, explosions are part of the process. In fact, it's surprising when there isn't an explosion. It just means that the kinks, so to speak, are being worked out.
Initial screenings for passengers begin on March 21st and Yasuka Maezawa is excited to be a part of something that is so monumental and so humbling all at once. He explained it best from his home in Chiba, Japan.
"I want to be reminded of how small, how insignificant I am."
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