Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa, signed with SpaceX to fly around the moon on their next generation rocket, CEO Elon Musk announced on Monday.
Maezawa will attempt to be the first to return to the moon in nearly half a century, launching aboard a Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), which SpaceX is developing.
Musk’s long-term ambition is to create a permanent, self-sustaining human presence on Mars and testing on the Behemouth Rocket is to begin next year.
The trip is expected to launch in four years, in 2023.
"Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the moon. It's always there and continues to inspire humanity," said Maezawa, one of the richest people in Japan, who made his fortune as the founder of online retailers Start Today and Zozotown.
Musk declined to comment on what we can only guess is the substantial amount of money Maezawa has paid to make the trip into outer space, “to be clear this is dangerous… it’s not a sure thing… there are some chances that things could go wrong.
To date, only two dozen people have ever visited the moon, with the final Apollo mission in 1972 making it the last time a human visited the moon and Maezawa wants to up this number.
“I choose to go to the moon with artists, in 2023, as the host, I would like to invite 6 to 8 artists from around the world to join me on this mission to the moon,” he says.
The lucky few chosen to orbit the moon are yet to be revealed!
