Musk names Japan billionaire for moon mission
SAN FRANCISCO/DALLAS: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will hitch the first SpaceX ride around the moon and plans to invite as many as eight artists to join him— with the rocket company’s founder Elon Musk possibly signing up for the space flight.
Maezawa will fly on Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s BFR rocket on the trip in 2023, Musk announced on Monday. SpaceX expects Maezawa, 42, to be the first private passenger to make the journey that only two dozen astronauts have been on during the Apollo era that ended 46 years ago.
“He is, I think, the bravest person and most willing to do so,” Musk said, referring to Maezawa. Calling it a “dangerous mission” and “not a walk in the park”, he said SpaceX will complete several test flights before putting humans on the rocket.
Musk, a master showman, is adept at inspiring a massive audience of followers for his pursuit of electric cars and other clean-energy endeavors critical to combating global warming. Sixteen successful missions for SpaceX this year is a bright spot in an otherwise tumultuous few months for Musk, who is also chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of electric-car maker Tesla Inc.
Maezawa, whose net worth is $2.3 billion, is the founder and CEO of Japan’s secondlargest e-commerce company Start Today Co. The company has grown from its origins as a mail-order music album business, and now makes most of its money through its shopping website Zozotown, which is popular with younger domestic consumers. Shares of Start Today fell 2.4% in Tokyo on Tuesday after the announcement.