Maezawa to be first private passenger to fly around Moon on SpaceX vehicle

Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX has signed the world's first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard the BFR launch vehicle

A globally recognised art curator and fashion innovator, Japan’s Yusaku Maezawa will be the first private passenger to fly around the Moon on board the BFR, according to billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Yusaku will be bringing 8 (brave) artists & cultural figures with him on the journey around the moon, tweeted Musk.

SpaceX signing the world's first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard the BFR launch vehicle is an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of travelling to space, according to the company.

In another tweet, Musk posted a picture where he is seen with Maezawa on his shoulder. The image was captioned: Hanging out with @yousuck2020 before the @SpaceX moon mission announcement.

To this, Maezawa responded on Twitter with a thank you message:
 

Lasting about a week, the journey will come as close as 125 miles to the Moon’s surface before completing a lunar transit and returning to the Earth, the company said.

The BFR, or Big Falcon Rocket, is SpaceX's forthcoming spaceship system consisting of two parts — a massive rocket booster that promises to outpower any other ever built, and a towering spacecraft that will vault out of the Earth's atmosphere.

SpaceX’s next generation vehicle BFR will be the most powerful rocket in history, capable of carrying humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, the company claims.

Only 24 human beings in history have been to the Moon, and no one since the last Apollo mission in 1972.

It may be noted that in February 2017 SpaceX said two people had signed a deal with SpaceX to make a trip around the moon aboard the Falcon Heavy rocket. Whether or not this is the same trip is not immediately known.

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.