Japanese Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa Plans To Circle Around The Moon With Elon Musk's SpaceX
JAKARTA - Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa tweeted on Monday December 5 that he plans to make a "big announcement" regarding space after a meeting with SpaceX owner Elon Musk.
Yusaku Maezawa, founder of online mode site Zozo Inc, has completed a trip to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Soyuz spacecraft in December last year. Now he plans to travel around the moon with Musk's rocket and satellite company, SpaceX in 2023.
イーロン @elonmusk とのオンラインミーティング終了。日本時間で12月9日朝頃に宇宙に関する重大な発表ができることになりました。昨年、宇宙に行った日からちょうど1年経つ記念日にまた新しい発表ができます。
— 前澤友作@MZDAO (@yousuck2020) December 5, 2022
The 47-year-old has tweeted that he has held an online meeting with Musk and is "now able to make a major announcement about space on December 9".
Space enthusiasts are likely to be the first private passenger on a SpaceX lunar mission with planned week-long flight in 2023, as commercial companies including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin usher in a new era of space travel for rich clients.
Maezawa earned his fortune by setting up online fashion retailer Zozo bought by the internet business, Softbank Group Corp.
Following Maezawa's tweet, shares in Inclusive Inc, which provides space-related businesses utilizing satellite data, jumped 11.7% to close at 1,171 yen (Rp134 thousand).