Yusaku Maezawa Will Travel To Space Aboard Russian Soyuz This Year Before Launching Aboard SpaceX’s Starship

Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa purchased the first trip aboard SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle that is currently under development at Starbase in South Texas. SpaceX aims to have a space-ready Starship by 2023 to launch Maezawa on a journey around the Moon. Maezawa calls the mission ‘Dear Moon,’ and invited the public to participate in a contest to win a seat aboard Starship’s first crewed flight. He plans to select eight passengers out of one million who participated. Read more: DJ Steve Aoki Participates In ‘Dear Moon’ Contest To Win A Trip Aboard SpaceX’s Starship. 

Now, it appears Maezawa could not wait to visit space! He will first travel to space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft this year before launching aboard SpaceX's Starship. Maezawa is currently training to visit the International Space Station (ISS). He booked the space tour with United States company Space Adventures. Maezawa will liftoff from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 8. The space tour will last 12-days during which he will enjoy views of Earth from the Space Station's cupola and vlog for his YouTube channel. “Going on my space journey from Dec. 8 to 20. The International Space Station (ISS) will be my home for the two weeks. I’ll be tweeting my diary along with [hashtag] #MZJourneytoSpace,” Maezawa announced via Twitter last week.

Going on my space journey from Dec. 8 to 20. The International Space Station (ISS) will be my home for the two weeks. I’ll be tweeting my diary along with #MZJourneytoSpace

— Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) (@yousuckMZ) September 23, 2021

Maezawa is taking a film producer along for the ride, Yozo Hirano, who is tasked with documenting his life in space. They will be joined aboard Soyuz by a professional astronaut, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. “I'm so curious: What’s life like in space? So, I am planning to find out on my own and share with the world on my YouTube channel,” Maezawa said in a statement released by Space Adventures.

【76 days until Launch🚀】
Trained using a Soyuz simulator to learn the process of pre-launch to docking with the ISS.#MZJourneytoSpace pic.twitter.com/6idknCaFMP

— Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) (@yousuckMZ) September 23, 2021

“We are excited for Maezawa-san, and we are honored to have enabled this opportunity for him to fly to space,” said Eric Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Space Adventures, Inc. “He will be flying on the respected Soyuz spacecraft, visiting the space station as have our previous space flight participant (SFP) clients. This is the first time two SFPs will fly together, and the first tourist mission to the ISS in a decade! Welcome to space, Yusaku!” Space Adventures did not disclose how much Maezawa paid for the trip. Historically, seven self-funded individuals have visited the Space Station and Maezawa will be the eighth and the first from Japan. Those space tourists reportedly paid over $25 million to visit the Space Station through missions managed by Space Adventures. 

[T-82 Days] Completing the training at NASA, we are heading to the final training before the launch in Moscow. On the left of the photo is Yozo Hirano, who is going to ISS together this time, and on the right is Ogiso who is backup crew. pic.twitter.com/6tW0G03BOv

— Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) (@yousuckMZ) September 18, 2021

Featured Images Source: Yusaku Maezawa via Twitter