Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, has announced at a press conference that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will be the world’s first paying private passenger to take a trip around the moon onboard the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR).
“Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the moon. Just staring (at) the moon filled my imagination,” said Maezawa. “I choose to go to the moon, with artists!”
Maezawa is reported to have a net worth is $2.9 billion and is known as an avid art collector. In 2017, Maezawa had purchased the Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 painting of a skull for $110.5 million, setting the highest record price for an American artist at auction.
Maezawa has bought all the seats on board the BFR for an undisclosed sum and is planning on inviting 6 to 8 undetermined artists to join Maezawa for the trip of their lifetime as part of a project called Dear Moon. Maezawa said that he would like to individually reach out to the world’s top artists ranging from painters, photographers, musicians, film directors, fashion designers, and architects to offer a free trip around the moon.
“These artists will be asked to create something after they return to Earth, and these masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us,” stated Yusaku Maezawa.
SpaceX’s BFR is a reusable launch vehicle and spacecraft system currently in development. Once completed, the BFR will measure 387 feet (118 metres) in height and will be capable of carrying up to 100 people into space. Musk estimates that the development of the BFR will cost roughly $5 billion, adding that Maezawa’s purchase of the seat tickets will significantly contribute to the completion of the BFR.
Musk said that there will be numerous test launches of the BFR before placing Maezawa and the artists on the trip around the moon. If all goes according to plan, BFR will launch into space in the year 2023 to complete one loop around the moon before returning to Earth.
In a tweet, Musk announced that the moon trip will be “livestreamed in high def VR”.
“The purpose of SpaceX, the reason for creating SpaceX, was to accelerate the advent of humanity, becoming a spacefaring civilization, to help advance rocket technology to a point where we could potentially become a multiplanet species and a true spacefaring civilization,” explained Musk.
To learn more about Maezawa and his trip around the moon, click the link below.
