Japanese billionaire could be first on Musk’s moon journey

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa says he plans to make a “big announcement” related to space after a meeting with Elon Musk.

The founder of the online fashion site Zozo Inc, completed a tourist trip to the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft in December last year.

Now he plans to journey around the moon with Musk’s rocket and satellite company SpaceX next year.

The 47-year-old entrepreneur tweeted that he had held an online meeting with Musk and “can now make a big announcement about space on December 9”.

The space enthusiast will likely become the first private passenger on a SpaceX moon mission with a week-long fly-by planned for 2023.