Japanese billionaire who bought tickets on SpaceX’s Starship announces 8 seats are up for grabs.

Yusaku Maezawa, the billionaire Japanese fashion CEO who paid big bucks to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for the first seats on its Starship spacecraft for a trip round the Moon in 2023, recently teased a big announcement regarding the journey. Mystery solved: Maezawa proclaimed on Tuesday he is offering anyone interested a shot at joining his crew.

The mission, known as dearMoon, will involve 10-12 crew members, with eight slots available for the general public to apply for via the mission’s website. Maezawa appears to be aiming for a swift timeline: Pre-registration is scheduled to be due by March 14, 2021, with initial screenings being conducted by March 21. The website claims that the more successful applicants will receive final interviews and medical checkups by the end of May 2021. Between then and the launch date will be focused on mission training.

The only two qualifications required of the applicants is that they “push the envelope” toward improving society and that they will support other crew members who do the same. The remaining crew members will hopefully consist of individuals qualified in some kind of scientific or engineering discipline related to the operation of a spacecraft.

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