Japanese billionaire Maezawa picks K-pop star TOP, DJ Steve Aoki to join SpaceX moon trip - Reuters.com

TOKYO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa revealed connected Friday that K-pop prima TOP and DJ Steve Aoki volition beryllium among the 8 unit members helium plans to instrumentality connected a travel astir the satellite arsenic soon arsenic adjacent year, hitching a thrust connected 1 of Elon Musk's SpaceX rockets.

Maezawa bought each spot connected the maiden lunar voyage, which has been successful the works since 2018 and would travel his travel connected a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) for a 12-day stint past year.

The picks were announced by Maezawa connected Twitter and astatine a website for what helium dubbed the #dearMoon Project.

The manner tycoon and his unit would go the archetypal passengers connected the SpaceX flyby of the satellite arsenic commercialized firms, including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, usher successful a caller property of abstraction question for affluent clients.

The ngo aboard SpaceX's Starship conveyance is scheduled to instrumentality 8 days from motorboat to instrumentality to earth, including 3 days circling the moon, coming wrong 200 kilometres from the lunar surface. Though the formation was scheduled for 2023, it is facing delays owed to ongoing tests of the spacecraft and its rockets.

Like chap billionaire Musk, Maezawa has a flare for promotion and an infatuation with Twitter -- helium has boasted to holding the Guinness satellite grounds for the astir retweeted post, erstwhile helium offered a currency prize of 1 cardinal yen ($7300) to 100 winners for retweeting it.

Maezawa utilized the micro-blogging tract to enlistee 8 unit members from astir the satellite to articulation him connected the satellite trip, saying 1 cardinal radical had applied.

TOP, the signifier sanction of Choi Seung Hyun who broke retired with the K-pop radical Big Bang, is among the higher illustration members selected, on with Aoki, a Japanese-American instrumentalist and DJ whose begetter founded the Benihana edifice chain.

"I consciousness large pridefulness and work successful becoming the archetypal Korean civilian going to the moon," TOP said successful a video posted aft the announcement.

Indian histrion Dev Joshi was besides among the picks for the group, comprised mostly of artists and photographers. U.S. Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu were named arsenic backup unit members.

Maezawa, 47, flagged an update to the lunar expedition connected Monday, tweeting he'd held an online gathering with Musk and was readying a "big announcement astir space."

Maezawa made his luck founding the online manner retailer Zozo Inc (3092.T), successful which Softbank Group Corp's (9984.T) net concern is present the apical shareholder.

($1 = 136.7600 yen)

Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sandra Maler

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