Japanese billionaire seeks eight strangers to fly with him to the Moon

Yusaku Maezawa is inviting people to join him on a Moon voyage aboard Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket in 2023

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is looking for eight people to join him on the first civilian lunar flight on SpaceX in 2023. Reuters

If making it to the Moon has been an ambition of yours, then a Japanese billionaire may be about to make those dreams come true.

Yusaku Maezawa is inviting eight people to join him on a SpaceX voyage that is set to kick-start space tourism.

The founder of Japanese online fashion store Zozo, is on the hunt for crew members from across the world to go into orbit with him on the Starship rocket being developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX.

The mission, called dearMoon, is scheduled to fly in 2023 and will be the first lunar journey by humans in more than 50 years. It's also set to be the first private commercial spaceflight.

Anyone who wants to be part of it can preregister on the dearMoon website, with applications open until Sunday, March 14.

Those selected will enjoy a six-day lunar trip – three days to reach the Moon and loop behind it, then another three days to come back to Earth.

Highlights will include seeing our planet's bright blue colours from a lunar vantage point, and the possibility of seeing an Earthrise – where the planet's round shape will appear from beyond the Moon's horizon.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will cover all the costs of the private lunar expedition. AFP

Fashion mogul and art collector Maezawa, who also goes by the name MZ, purchased all the seats for the first commercial trip to the Moon in 2018.

"I will pay for the entire journey," confirmed the entrepreneur. There will be up to 12 people on board the flight, but there are eight seats up for grabs for members of the public, who will fly for free.

Initial screenings of applications are scheduled to take place before Sunday, March 21, after which assignments, online interviews and medical check-ups will be conducted.

Final interviews are planned for late May 2021, but this is subject to change.

Who can apply to fly to the Moon? 

Speaking to would-be applicants from his home in Tokyo, Maezawa details the two criteria people need to fulfil in order to apply.

Applicants must be able to use the trip to help "push the envelope" in their creative industry and to help "other people and greater society" in some way.

Secondly, applicants must be willing to support the other crew members throughout the mission.

"I'm inviting you to join me on this mission. Eight of you from all around the world," said the billionaire.

"I hope that together we can make it a fun trip."

Elon Musk confident of mission date

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said he was optimistic the mission will go ahead in two years time.

The SpaceX Starship SN9 explodes into a fireball after its high altitude test flight from test facilities in Boca Chica, Texas. Reuters

Inspiration4 mission commander Jared Isaacman, founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments, stands for a portrait in front of the recovered first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in Hawthorne, California. AFP

SpaceX starships SN9(L) and SN10 continue to wait for test flights as the sun sets at the launch facilities in Boca Chica, Texas. Reuters

The SpaceX Starship SN9 prototype rocket descends after a test flight from its launch pad in a still image from video in Boca Chica, Texas. Reuters

The SpaceX Starship SN9 prototype rocket lifts off for a test flight from its launch pad in a still image from video in Boca Chica, Texas. Reuters

The SpaceX launches Starship SN9 for a test flight from its facilities in Boca Chica, Texas. Reuters

Spectators at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island, Texas, look up for a glimpse of SpaceX's bullet-shaped Starship prototype during a test launch. AP

"I'm highly confident that we will have reached orbit many times with Starship before 2023. And that it will be safe enough for human transport ... It's looking very, very promising," confirmed Musk in the dearMoon promotional video.

The first civilian mission to the Moon is also set to go further into space than any other has before.

"We're going to go past the Moon, so it will actually end up being further. People will go further than any human has ever gone from planet Earth," revealed Musk.

MZ's call for applicants from all walks of life is an update on his announcement two years ago, when he initially invited artists to join him for the ride.

He explains that the meaning of the word "artist" became "ambiguous" to him the more he thought about it, so he decided to reach out to a more diverse pool of people.

Maezawa admits he is "a little scared, but more curious" and says he hopes the trip will help remind him how small and insignifcant he is.

In 2020, Maezawa also launched a search for a new girlfriend to join him on the ride to the Moon. He has since cancelled this plan.

How much he paid Musk to secure all the seats on the first private flight to the Moon remains a mystery.