SpaceX founder, CEO, and lead designer Elon Musk announced Monday that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will be flying around the moon on the next generation SpaceX rocket.
Musk – who resided in Kingston for two years while a student at Queen’s University – announced in February 2017 that SpaceX would be flying two passengers around the moon in a Falcon Heavy rocket launched Dragon crew capsule. But then stated earlier this year that SpaceX would instead use the upcoming, more powerful Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) to send a larger group of passengers to the moon.
Once they arrive, Maezawa and eight others will be the first people to return to the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972. His trip is planned to launch in 2023.
Yusaku Maezawa is a Japanese entrepreneur and art collector who founded Start Today in 1998 and created the online fashion retail website Zozotown, now Japan’s largest, in 2004.
Watch the entire live-cast announcement on Youtube
Also check out these tweets from Elon Musk, SpaceX and Yusaku Maezawa:
Hanging out with @yousuck2020 before the @SpaceX moon mission announcement pic.twitter.com/RTOwutzMtG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2018
Another serious shot w @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/e11lyfjfFN
— Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) 前澤友作 (@yousuck2020) September 18, 2018
SpaceX has completed over 60 launches to-date and has the world’s only reusable orbital class rockets and spacecraft—capable of launching to space, returning to Earth, and flying again. pic.twitter.com/0rjinzNHyb
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 18, 2018
SpaceX’s next generation vehicle—BFR—will be the most powerful rocket in history, capable of carrying humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. https://t.co/gtC39uBC7z pic.twitter.com/urQDbdTK94
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 18, 2018
Moon mission will be livestreamed in high def VR, so it’ll feel like you’re there in real-time minus a few seconds for speed of light
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2018
Lasting about a week, the journey will come as close as 125 miles to the Moon’s surface before completing lunar transit and returning back to Earth. pic.twitter.com/1P4HSHxaNU
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 18, 2018
Photo: SpaceX.com