‘Free tickets to the moon’: Japanese billionaire seeks eight companions for SpaceX lunar trip

Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa is looking for eight people to join him on a trip to the moon aboard Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship reusable launch vehicle. The week-long expedition called “dearMoon”, described as the world’s first civilian lunar mission, is being planned for 2023. Maezawa, the 45-year-old punk rock musician and founder of Japan’s largest online fashion retail website Zozotown, bought all nine seats available on the rocket in 2018. He previously had asked artists to apply to join him on the trip, but then opened applications to anyone in the world. Registrations will be accepted until March 14, and finalists will need to pass medical checks and be interviewed by Maezawa in late May before he makes his final choice.