SpaceX is Sending Its First Space Tourist in 2023
What comes to your mind when you hear taking a trip? Maybe a road trip to your favorite national park? Or catching your flight to see your favorite cousin? Well, for us, a trip might be an exciting thing, but for Yusaku Maezawa, his next big trip would be out of the world. Literally. Who is Yusaku Maezava? Well, he is a billionaire founder of the Japanese fashion retailer, Zozotown. And where is he going? To the moon.
It’s been decades since man set his foot on the moon. And though Elon Musk doesn’t want anyone to set his or her foot on the moon, he at least wants humans to get close to it. And that was what his company is doing. During a press event at the company headquarters in Hawthorne California, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced the first space tourist to get close to the moon. He said that his and his company’s dream is for humanity to become a multi-planet civilization as soon as possible, and man that is something that makes us excited!
And that is exactly what he and his company want. And that is also the reason why they have selected Yusaka, another man who is fascinated by the moon. At the press conference, Yusaka expressed his opinion that the moon has always been as a symbol of hope and imagination, and that the moon has always been up there to inspire and nurture humanity.
Details were also spilled on the upcoming space tour. Though not many hints were given out, what we know as for now is that Maezawa won’t be the only person who would be going into space. This so-called “tour” will carry 6 to 8 artists. From architects to musicians and to fashion designers, selected artists would get a ride on the Big Falcon Rocket when it launches in 2023.
Though there is no word on how much is been spent on riding the SpaceX’s first paying civilian customer, he did specify that a sizable down payment has already paid and that he will also be paying for the artists’ flights in addition of his own. Hints were also dropped on the specifications of the BFR spacecraft that the tourists would be riding in.
Future
Though the company had proposed to utilize its Falcon Heavy rockets to blast the Dragon crew capsule, the company has since opted to utilize its new BFR which is being constructed at the Port of Los Angeles. The Big Falcon Ship is no joke. The BFS rides at the tip of the 118-meter long BFR, and during Maezwas’s trip, the BFR would carry as much light as possible. Extra food, water and also parts just in case the trip gets in jeopardy halfway.
The BFR is expected to be ready for ground testing at some point in 2019, and Musk believes that the first uncrewed BFR flight to Mars would take place in early 2022, and crewed flights would start two years after that.
