Tag: Yusaku Maezawa

Russian rocket blasts off carrying Japanese billionaire to the ISS

by Anastasia CLARK Agence France-Presse BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AFP) – A Russian rocket lifted off on Wednesday carrying a Japanese billionaire to the International Space Station, marking the country’s return to space tourism after a decade-long pause that saw the rise of competition from privately held US companies. Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his production assistant Yozo Hirano blasted off from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0738 GMT, an AFP correspondent at the […]

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Japanese tycoon ‘excited’ ahead of trip to ISS

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AFP) – Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa said Tuesday he was feeling “excited” ahead of his mission to the International Space Station, which marks Russia’s return to space tourism. Maezawa, a space enthusiast who made his wealth in online fashion, and his production assistant, Yozo Hirano, will spend 12 days on the ISS. Their Soyuz rocket operated by Russia’s Roscosmos space agency will blast off from the Moscow-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. “I […]

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Japan space tourist says moon training ‘shouldn’t be too hard’

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Billionaire Japanese tycoon and future space tourist Yusaku Maezawa’s training to go the moon should not be too tricky, he joked Tuesday, adding that he planned to use free time from his six-hour work day to squeeze it in. The 42-year-old Maezawa paid an undisclosed sum for a ticket on fellow tycoon Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket around the moon as early as 2023 and the passionate art collector also plans to […]

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Japanese billionaire businessman revealed as SpaceX’s first Moon traveler

by Ivan Couronne Agence France Presse HAWTHORNE, United States (AFP) — A Japanese billionaire and online fashion tycoon, Yusaku Maezawa, will be the first man to fly on a monster SpaceX rocket around the Moon as early as 2023, and he plans to bring six to eight artists along. Maezawa, 42, will be the first lunar traveler since the last US Apollo mission in 1972. He paid an unspecified amount of money for the privilege. […]

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