Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has announced who he will be traveling with on an eight-day mission around the moon, the first major mission for SpaceX’s Starship rocket. DJ Steve Aoki, K POP star, choreographer from the Czech Republic and owner of YouTube channel Everyday Astronaut are among the chosen ones.

The trip is due to take place in 2023, but it is highly likely that it will be 2024 because of delays in the testing and launch program of SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket.

The mission should last eight days, three of which will pass around the Moon, and the maximum approach will be within 200 km of the Moon’s surface.

The dearMoon team

• DJ Steve Aoki (USA)

• Tim Dodd (Youtuber, known for the Everyday Astronaut channel, which has 1.4 million subscribers

• TOP (Choi Seung Hyun), rapper and K-POP star from South Korea

• Yemi AD (choreographer and dancer from the Czech Republic)

• Rhiannon Adam (photographer from Ireland)

• Karim Ilia (British nature photographer)

• Brendan Hall (American director)

• Dev Joshi (Indian actor)

There are also two backups in case someone from the main cast can’t make it: Caitlin Farrington (an athlete from the US) and Miyu (a dancer from Japan).

Maezawa, who made his money in retail, is worth $1.7 billion and bought all the seats in the mission in 2018.

A million people signed up to be part of the mission.

In 2021, Yusaku Maezawa completed a 12-day mission to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz launch vehicle.

This flight will be the first manned flight around the moon since 1972. There will be NO landing on the moon either.