Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa is set to board the Big Falcon Rocket in 2023
The first private passenger flying to the Moon has been revealed. On Monday evening, SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk announced that Japanese billionaire and founder of Zozotown, Yusaku Maezawa, will be the first passenger ever to board their Big Falcon Rocker and head to the Earth’s closest neighbour.
The entrepreneur has decided to launch the remarkable journey as early as 2023 and, as a part of a project #dearMoon, he will take a group of artists with him.
“Finally, I can tell you that I choose to go to the Moon! I choose to go to the moon with artists!” Maezawa said while announcing his trip at a SpaceX event.
“I would like to invite six to eight artists from around the world to join me on this mission to the Moon,” he said. “These artists will be asked to create something after they return to Earth, and these masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us.”
The first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard BFR is fashion innovator and globally recognized art curator Yusaku Maezawa.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 18, 2018
The businessman hasn’t made his decision which artists will be invited. His idea is to take artists from various fields such as painters, musicians, film directors, and more.
“If Pablo Picasso had been able to see the moon up-close, what kind of paintings would he have drawn? If John Lennon could have seen the curvature of the Earth, what kind of songs would he have written?” Maezawa said on a website dedicated to this project.
Hanging out with @yousuck2020 before the @SpaceX moon mission announcement pic.twitter.com/RTOwutzMtG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2018
“If they had gone to space, how would the world have looked today? People are creative and have a great imagination.”
“I hope that this project will inspire the dreamer within each of us.”
During the conference, Musk claimed that it was actually Maezawa’s idea to do this flight. Despite not revealing the actual cost of the flight, Musk said that the contribution the Japanese billionaire has made would be enough that it will “have a material effect on paying for cost and development of BFR”.
“It makes a difference,” Musk said. “He puts his money where his mouth is. He’s legit.” The estimated cost of the BFR’s development is roughly $5 billion.
The 42-year-old Maezawa reportedly has a current net worth of $2.9 billion, according to Forbes.
