'I choose to go to the moon!'

A Japanese internet entrepreneur is to be the first "space tourist" to fly round the moon.

Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa declared "I choose to go the the moon" after being introduced by SpaceX's chief executive Elon Musk at the company's headquarters in California.

The ex punk band drummer made his money in online fashion with his company Zozo and is the 18th richest person in Japan with a fortune of $3bn, according to Forbes magazine.

Maezawa, 42, will take his trip round the moon in SpaceX's Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) spaceship and will be the first man to travel to Earth's only natural satellite since the US ended its Apollo missions in 1972.

It is not clear how much he has paid for the trip. Nor is it known when the flight will take place as BFR has yet to be built.

Advertisement

Mr Musk has said he wants the rocket to be ready for an unpiloted trip to Mars in 2022, with a crewed flight in 2024.

Elon Musk's SpaceX launches satellite into orbit

In announcing the moon flight Mr Musk has stolen a march on his rivals for space tourist dollars.

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic are also battling it out to launch private-sector spacecraft, but neither have so far announced plans as ambitious as SpaceX.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber are among those who have so far signed up for 90 minute sub-orbital flights with Virgin Galactic at a cost of $250,000.

Short sightseeing trips to space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket are likely to cost around $200,000 to $300,000.

Image: Dennis Tito paid to travel to the International Space Station in 2001

The first space tourist was American billionaire Dennis Tito who in 2001 paid to spend eight days in orbit as a crew member of ISS EP-1, a visiting mission to the International Space Station.</s>HAWTHORNE, Calif. — A Japanese billionaire who wants to take his love of art to the heavens will be the first private passenger to fly around the moon, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced Monday.

Musk introduced Yusaku Maezawa, founder of the international custom-fit clothing company Zozo and an avid art collector, as the one who is investing in the spaceship project in order to take the trip, possibly in 2023.

"This is dangerous. This is not a walk in the park," Elon Musk warned at a crowded press conference at the rocket maker's headquarters near Los Angeles International Airport. "There are chances something go wrong" and "you have to be a brave person to do that."

Maezawa appear unfazed, talking about fusing his love of art and expression and a lifelong dream of going into space aboard SpaceX's BFR rocket.

No one has gone to the moon since the Apollo astronauts, with the last trip in 1972. Some 24 of them made the trip, but none were a private citizen. Neither Musk nor Maezawa would say how much he is sinking into the project. Musk said, however, that the down payment alone was "significant."

The BFR rocket and spaceship is being designed as the most ambitious space project ever created, a precursor to a mission to Mars. Instead of a capsule, the BFR's spaceship has fins like those in 1950s science-fiction movies and looks something like a sleeker version of America's now-retired space shuttles.

It will seat about a dozen, so that's how Maezawa can bring his artist friends.

"I can tell you that I choose to go to the moon," said Maezawa, apologizing for his English. "I choose to go to the moon with artists."

The BFR, for Big Falcon Rocket, will make a single swing around the moon. The trip is 240,000 miles one way and will take four or five days.

So far, Musk said the BFR project is a relatively small project within SpaceX, which has become a major space launch firm for satellites and to resupply the International Space Station. He said the top priority is getting ready to be able to send astronauts to the space station. Those missions will depend on SpaceX's proven Falcon rockets.

Besides its 60 successful blastoffs, it is developing the Dragon 2 space capsule for the space station missions.

More: SpaceX signs first private passenger for rocket mission around the moon

Also: Peek inside the new SpaceX capsule for NASA astronauts</s>HAWTHRONE: A Japanese billionaire and online fashion tycoon, Yusaku Maezawa, will be the first man to fly on a monster SpaceX rocket around the Moon as early as 2023, and he plans to bring six to eight artists along.

Maezawa, 42, will be the first lunar traveller since the last US Apollo mission in 1972. He paid an unspecified amount of money for the privilege.

"Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the Moon," Maezawa said at SpaceX headquarters and rocket factory in Hawthorne, California, in the middle of metropolitan Los Angeles, late Monday.

"This is my lifelong dream."

Maezawa is chief executive of Japan's largest online fashion mall, and is the 18th richest person in Japan with a fortune of $3 billion, according to the business magazine Forbes.

Maezawa's other hobby is amassing valuable works of modern art and last year, he announced the acquisition of a Jean-Michel Basquiat masterpiece worth $110.5 million.

His love of art led him to decide to invite artists to come along for the trip, he said.

"I would like to invite six to eight artists from around the world to join me on this mission to the Moon," Maezawa said.

"They will be asked to create something after they return to Earth. These masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us."

Until now, Americans are the only ones who have left Earth's orbit. A total of 24 NASA astronauts -- all white men -- voyaged to the Moon during the Apollo era of the 1960s and '70s. Twelve walked on the lunar surface.

The first space tourist was Dennis Tito, an American businessman who in 2001 paid some $20 million to fly on a Russian spaceship to the International Space Station.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described Maezawa as the "bravest" and "best adventurer."

"He stepped forward," Musk added. "We are honored that he chose us."

Musk said he would not reveal the price Maezawa paid for the Moon trip, but said it would be "free for the artists."

"This is dangerous, to be clear. This is no walk in the park," Musk cautioned.

"When you are pushing the frontier, it is not a sure thing. There is a chance something could go wrong."

The ride will take place aboard a Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), which may not be ready for human flight for five years at least, Musk said.

The BFR was first announced in 2016, and was touted as the most powerful rocket in history, even more potent than the Saturn V Moon rocket that launched the Apollo missions five decades ago.

Last year, Musk said the BFR's admittedly "ambitious" goal was to make a test flight to Mars in 2022, followed by a crewed flight to the Red Planet in 2024.

This isn't the first time Musk has vowed to send tourists around the Moon. Last year, he said two paying tourists would circle the Moon in 2018, but those plans that did not materialize.

Musk showed off designs of the 118-meter (129 yards) long BFR, which will consist of a first stage with engines and fuel systems, and a second stage with the spacecraft where the passengers will ride.

Like SpaceX's existing rockets, the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, the first stage can detach from the rest of the rocket and return to Earth for an upright landing.

The spacecraft will continue on toward the Moon, powered by its own engines.

The BFR spacecraft's shape is reminiscent of the space shuttle, the bus-like US spaceships that carried astronauts to space 135 times from 1981 to 2011.

ALSO READ | Family of first man to step on Moon to auction his personal collection

Musk has said he wants the BFR's vessel to be able to hold around 100 people, and that the launch system could one day be used to colonize the Moon and Mars in order to make humans a "multi-planetary" species.

Whatever the details, SpaceX is touting an experience considerably more ambitious than space tourism plans under development by other private companies.

Virgin Galactic, founded by British tycoon Richard Branson, and billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's rocket company Blue Origin, are working on trips to the edge of space that could offer tourists a chance at weightlessness for 10 minutes or so.

Virgin's trip will cost about $250,000. Blue Origin's price has not been revealed.

Russian and Chinese companies are also working on space tourism plans.

Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla Motors, has drawn attention in recent months over his erratic behavior.

He has alleged that a cave diver in Thailand who helped rescue stranded boys was a "pedo," smoked what appeared to be marijuana on a comedian's podcast, spooked Tesla investors with comments about the future of the electric car maker, and admitted to exhaustion and use of the sleeping pill Ambien.

But so far this year, his space firm has also kept up a schedule outpaced only by the Chinese government, making 15 launches with its Falcon 9 rocket.

Next year, SpaceX -- which has received billions in NASA funding to ferry supplies to the ISS and build a crew vehicle -- hopes to become the first private company to send astronauts to the space station.</s>SpaceX revealed Monday that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will be its first space tourist.

Maezawa has chartered a flight aboard the company's Big Falcon Rocket, which is still being developed, for a slingshot trip around the Moon as soon as 2023. He's planning to take six to eight artists with him on the mission free of charge.

"I want to share this experience and things with as many people as possible," Maezawa told a news conference. "So, I choose to go to the Moon with artists."

The trip will take four or five days, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said at the event.

SpaceX made the announcement from its headquarters in Hawthorne, California — not far from where the Emmy awards were being handed out in Los Angeles on Monday evening.

Maezawa is a rock musician, online fashion mogul and, more recently, a high-rolling art collector. A video presentation about him said he believes art can help usher in world peace.

He wondered on stage what John Lennon, Coco Chanel, Michael Jackson or Andy Warhol would have created had they seen the Moon up close.

Maezawa, whose net worth is estimated at $2.9 billion by Forbes, plans to work with the SpaceX team to select his fellow passengers.

"If you hear from me, please say yes," the Japanese tycoon pleaded. He also encouraged Musk to join the mission.

"As far as me going, I'm not sure," Musk responded. "Maybe we'll both be on it."

Future announcements about the project, which Maezawa is calling "#dearMoon," will be posted on a website and social media accounts under the same name.

The Japanese billionaire has made a down payment for the mission, but the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"He puts his money where his mouth is," Musk said, describing the amount as "non-trivial."

Maezawa made his fortune by building up Start Today, an e-commerce business that includes a popular online clothing site in Japan. He drew attention last year with the purchase of a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting for $110.5 million.

Maezawa will fly on the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, a new spaceship system that SpaceX is building. It consists of a massive rocket booster that promises to out-power any that has ever been built and a towering spacecraft, nicknamed BFS for Big Falcon Spaceship, that will vault out of the Earth's atmosphere.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said at a conference outside Washington earlier Monday that she hoped the spaceship would be making short test flights next year.

Shotwell also said the full rocket could reach orbit for the first time in 2020 and possibly deliver cargo to the Moon or Mars in 2022.

"I know that sounds crazy, and we don't usually meet our time lines, but I wanted you to know at least order of magnitude, that's what we're thinking," Shotwell said. "And it sounds crazy but everything we've ever done has sounded crazy to people, both people that love us and people that don't like us so much."

Musk cautioned at the news conference that SpaceX is not certain about the 2023 timing for the moon tourism mission.

He said SpaceX has updated the design for the BFR rocket for the third time in three years. He showed off images of the hardware under construction and a test fire of the vehicle's massive Raptor engine.

The latest blueprints mark the final major redesign of the rocket, whose development is expected to cost roughly $5 billion, according to Musk.

Asked why the company made further changes, Musk said he "did not like the aesthetics" of the previous version. The new design, he added, "might be better," but "it's slightly riskier technically."

SpaceX has launched more than 60 missions to deliver cargo or satellites into orbit over the past eight years — all of them without humans on board.

The tourism announcement comes as the company is racing to meet a tight deadline to start flying astronauts to and from the International Space Station aboard its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft.

The United States hasn't had the ability to put humans in orbit since the Space Shuttle era ended in 2011. Since then, NASA has relied on Russia to ferry astronauts to the space station.

Shotwell said Monday that SpaceX is planning to conduct a test flight of a version of the Dragon capsule that can carry astronauts before the end of the year. It aims to launch its first crewed mission to the space station in the second quarter of 2019.

When will 'everyday people' get to visit space?

SpaceX has not talked much about putting private citizens in space since February 2017. That's when the company announced it would send two paying customers on a trip around the Moon in 2018 aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket, which became the most powerful operational rocket in the world after its maiden voyage earlier this year.

Musk later reversed course, saying the company no longer has plans to certify the Falcon Heavy for human spaceflight.

SpaceX has said it views space tourism as "an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space."

Two of Musk's fellow billionaires — Amazon's (AMZN) Jeff Bezos and Virgin Group's Richard Branson — also want to make a business out of space tourism.

Their ventures plan to conduct short suborbital trips during which passengers can briefly experience weightlessness and an expansive view of Earth.

But it's not clear when space tourism might become available for "everyday people."

Branson's Virgin Galactic has sold tickets for about $250,000, which is more than the median home price in the United States. Bezos' Blue Origin has been tight-lipped about the price of its tickets, but Reuters reported in July that they could cost in the $200,000 range. Blue Origin denied the report to CNN, saying ticket prices had not yet been set.</s>Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire famous for his business acumen, will become the first private tourist to fly around the moon using SpaceX’s Big Falcon Rocket. SpaceX made this announcement in a series of Twitter posts Monday.

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk added that Maezawa will bring eight people with him with the rocket blasts off in 2023.

SpaceX said that the entire trip will last about a week in a Twitter post, as the rocket will come as close as 125 miles to the moon’s surface before completing lunar transit and returning back to Earth. It will be the closest humans have come to the moon since the U.S ended its explorations in 1972, the space company noted.

Maezawa shared his excitement about the announcement in a series of tweets.

“Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the moon,” Maezawa said, according to CNBC. “It’s always there and continues to inspire humanity.”

According to CNBC, Maezawa is one of the richest men in Japan — making his billions as the founder of Internet retailers Start Today and Zozotown. According to Forbes, Maezawa is a self-made billionaire, getting his start by selling CDs and records of his favorite bands by mail from his home.

Today, along with hitching space rides, he collects modern art and plans to build a museum in Chiba, Japan, Forbes wrote. The magazine said that he bought paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Pablo Picasso worth about $80 million in 2016.

SpaceX had previously announced last year that it was planning on sending two people around the moon. Earlier this year, the company announced that it could send more, using the Falcon Heavy rocket instead of the Crew Dragon capsule, CNBC wrote.

The Falcon Heavy, BFR (Big Falcon Rocket) for short, can carry dozens of people into space and will have the ability to take off and land — much like the Falcon 9 does when it sends satellites into space and payloads to the International Space Station, noted CNBC.

“I choose to go to the moon with artists,” Maezawa said, according to CNBC. “In 2023, as the host, I would like to invite six to eight artists from around the world to join me on this mission to the moon.”

CNBC said that Maezawa had been teasing his Twitter followers about the trip last month. The network said he was at the Kennedy Space Center to watch the original flight of the Falcon Heavy.

National Public Radio said that Musk did not reveal how much Maezawa paid for the roundtrip moon ticket. Musk did add that Maezawa approached him about the trip’s possibility and that the funds could help in the development of the rocket. It is said to be the world’s most powerful and could take astronauts to Mars one day.</s>It’s no secret that the SpaceX project, backed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has plans to launch commercial flights into space. It is, actually, quite remarkable as they are certainly not the only company looking to do this, but despite being one of the newest kids on the block they look the most likely to achieve this first.

Part of the first commercial flights the company has offered is a trip around the moon. We should be clear that this isn’t to or on the Moon. It will simply (or not so simply) be a trip into space, into a moon orbit, take a quick trip around it and back home to Earth.

Well, last week it was reported that SpaceX had successfully signed up its first commercial passenger. In a report via CNET, we are able to confirm that the passenger is a Japanese entrepreneur (and Billionaire) Yusaku Maezawa.

Not Revealed Until Now!

In fairness, there were some pretty heavy hints that the passenger who signed-up might have hailed from Japan thanks to a few posts from Elon Musk. The identity was, however, a complete mystery and even though his name has been announced, it’s still probably doubtful you know who he is.

It seems though that it will not only be him going into space. He also plans on taking several artists with him so that they can be inspired by the sights.

How Much Has This Cost?

Well, that is the (multi) million Dollar question, isn’t it? Sadly, no one is saying. Despite this though, I imagine that the cost was exceptionally high and based on the number of people he was going with him, I’d be surprised if he had much change left over after $5m.

When you’re a billionaire though, there are few things that you can’t afford. Clearly, a trip to the moon isn’t one of them!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!</s>SpaceX said it has signed the first private moon traveler, with some changes to its original game plan.On Monday, the company revealed Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will become its first private passenger to the moon in an announcement at its Hawthorne, California headquarters.SpaceX founder Elon Musk also announced its not going to be the same mission outlined last year. The original plan called for two paying passengers to fly around the moon this year, using a Falcon Heavy rocket and a Dragon crew capsule.The new strategy is to still fly around the moon, but using an even bigger SpaceX rocket still in development that has its own dedicated passenger ship. And now, it appears there will be only one person aboard.Given that this new BFR rocket, as it's dubbed, has yet to be built, the flight presumably is at least a few years off.SpaceX put out the teaser via Twitter late Thursday, and Musk also tweeted out the news. Company representatives declined to offer additional details Friday.Musk's ultimate goal is to colonize Mars. This lunar mission - a flyby, not a landing - represents "an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space," SpaceX said in a tweet.On its website, SpaceX is touting the "first passenger on lunar BFR mission," implying there will be more.This could be humanity's first lunar visit since 1972, depending on how NASA's latest moon plans shape up. Twenty-four NASA astronauts flew to the moon from 1968 through 1972, and only 12 of them strolled its dusty surface. Next July will mark the 50th anniversary of the first manned moon landing by Apollo 11s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.NASA is shooting for its own flyby of the moon, with a crew, around 2023. The space agency aims to build a gateway in the vicinity of the moon, complete with staff, during the 2020s. It's envisioned as a base for exploration of the moon, Mars and beyond.</s>People explore a mock up of the Crew Dragon spacecraft during a media tour of SpaceX headquarters and rocket factory on Aug. 13, 2018 in Hawthorne, Calif. SpaceX plans to use the spaceship Crew Dragon, a passenger version of the robotic Dragon cargo ship, to carry NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time since the Space Shuttle program was retired in 2011.

HAWTHORNE, Calif. — It's the ultimate trip, a chance to go to the dark side of the moon, and SpaceX Monday named the first space tourist designated to go.

Elon Musk, CEO of the rocket maker, named Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa as the first to go where no space tourist has gone.

No one has gone to the moon since the Apollo astronauts, with the last trip in 1972. Some 24 of them made the trip.

The mission will be "an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space, SpaceX said in a tweet before the announcement.

The mission will be made with a new rocket in development, the BFR, for Big Falcon Rocket. For now, SpaceX is planning only to swing around the moon, not land on it. But it hopes that the BFR will be the rocket that could power a mission to Mars in the next decade.

After showing two sketches of the rocket in tweets Sunday, Musk sent one with the hashtag #OccupyMars.

SpaceX has become a major space launch firm, both for satellites and to resupply the International Space Station. Besides its 60 successful blastoffs with its Falcon and Falcon Heavy rockets, it has developed space capsule.</s>SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced that the first private passenger to fly on a trip around the moon will be Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa.Maezawa said he wants to bring six to eight artists with him on the Hawthorne-based company's Big Falcon Rocket. He plans to speak with artists from various fields including painting, sculpture, music, film and fashion about going on the trip."Ever since I was a kid, I loved the moon...I choose to go to the moon," Maezawa said during a press conference at company headquarters.He asked people to imagine what artists such as Picasso or John Lennon would have produced if they had the chance to see the moon up close.Maezawa has established a website, dearMoon , to outline his plans.The amount of money Maezawa is paying for the 2023 trip was not disclosed. Musk described it as a significant amount of money that is helping to pay for the BFR program.Musk said the overall BFR system - a reusable rocket used for more than just this mission - could cost around $5 billion. Musk said the BFR is designed to land on any surface in the solar system.During the press conference, Musk did say there is a chance the rocket could fail."It's not 100 percent certain that we succeed in getting this to flight. It's not even 100 percent certain. I think it's pretty likely, but it's not certain," he said.Both men know it could be a dangerous journey. Musk added that the person who is attempting this feat has to be a "very brave person."Maezawa made his fortune in online fashion retailing and has also established a reputation as a collector of high-end art and a supporter of art-related causes.Before getting into fashion, he was a drummer in a rock band and at age 18 he moved to Southern California to skateboard, staying for about a year before returning to Japan and getting into the business side of the music industry.Last year, Musk had discussed the idea of having someone land on the moon and return, but that has now changed to a loop around the moon that is expected to take about 4-5 days.</s>Elon Musk's SpaceX has been talking up its plans to shoot tourists around the moon since early 2017. The vision's finally starting to feel a little more real, as Musk announced the company's first paying passenger on Monday.

The deep-pocketed space explorer is Yusaku Maezawa, a 42-year-old Japanese billionaire and founder of online fashion mall Zozotown. (Here's everything you need to know about Maezawa.)

Musk previously hinted the passenger for the next-generation BFR (politely known as the Big Falcon Rocket) might be Japanese.

Maezawa has plenty of money to devote to this moon shot. He famously dropped over $110 million (£84 million, AU$154 million) on a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat in 2017.

"I could not pass up this opportunity to see the moon up close," Maezawa said. He revealed he purchased all available seats for the BFR lunar mission and plans to invite six to eight artists from around the world to go with him. The mission isn't scheduled to launch until 2023.

Maezawa says he intends to invite artists from different disciplines, including literature, film, visual arts, architecture and fashion. He will ask them to create works based on their experience as part of a project called #dearMoon.

SpaceX livestreamed the big news after teasing the announcement last week and calling it "an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space."

Musk says the moon mission will take four or five days and go through uncrewed tests prior to sending a person out.

Maezawa wouldn't reveal the cost for the tickets, but said he has already put down a deposit that Musk then described as "a non-trivial amount." Musk estimated the BFR development will cost around $5 billion.

Let's keep in mind a private tourist visited the International Space Station in 2002 at a cost of $20 million (£15.2 million, AU$28 million). The price for a SpaceX lunar mission is likely hefty, though Musk pointed out, "It's going to be free for the artists."

Musk touched on one of his favorite themes, a call for humanity to become a multi-planetary civilization, as he kicked off the announcement. "That's the intention of BFR, is to make people excited about the future," he said.

Musk previously tweeted some updated illustrations of the under-development BFR spacecraft that is expected to carry Maezawa off on the vacation of a lifetime around our lunar neighbor. The new design looks a bit like a streamlined, futuristic version of a NASA space shuttle.

SpaceX reminded us only 24 humans have been to the moon and no one has visited since NASA's final 1972 Apollo mission. The BFR ship won't be making a stopover on the lunar surface, though. The spacecraft is meant to buzz around the moon without landing.

The BFR will be constructed at a SpaceX facility in Los Angeles and is being designed to handle everything from missions to Earth orbit to long-term cargo and crew missions to Mars.

The system will eventually replace the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, as well as the Dragon spacecraft.

Musk provided some updates on the production design of the BFR, which will have a 100-ton payload capacity. It will also have seven Raptor engines and forward- and rear-actuated fins that Musk describes as being "like giant wings."

Musk says SpaceX has already built the first cylinder section of the BFR.

SpaceX's original timeline for the lunar flight aimed for a launch as early as late 2018, but that clearly didn't work out. Space missions are notoriously challenging to get off the planet, and Musk has a track record of being overly optimistic about his SpaceX goals.

While space tourism is a splashy endeavour on par with shooting a Tesla into orbit, Musk said on Twitter on Monday, "Top SpaceX priority is and will remain supporting @NASA crewed spaceflight and National Security missions."

The Smartest Stuff: Innovators are thinking up new ways to make you, and the things around you, smarter.

iHate: CNET looks at how intolerance is taking over the internet.
SpaceX announces that Japanese billionaire and art collector Yusaku Maezawa will be the first commercial passenger to orbit the Moon on their BFR rocket in 2023.