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Alexander Misurkin, Yusaku Maezawa, and Yozo Hirano are from L to R.
The photo was taken by Shalimar Zhumatov/POOL.
Three new spacefarers were launched to the International Space Station this morning, a crew consisting of a Russian cosmonaut and two Japanese space tourists. One of the tourists on board was Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire who is planning to fly around the Moon on a future rocket.
The trio docked with the space station at 8:40AM after they lifted off on top of a Russian rocket. Alexander Misurkin and Yozo Hirano are Maezawa's producers and managers. The group will spend roughly 12 days on the International Space Station before returning to Earth on December 19th.
Russia is reentering the world of space tourism.
Russia is reemerging into the world of space tourism. The flight comes just two months after Russia launched a Russian actress and director to the International Space Station to film scenes for an upcoming movie called The Challenge. Maezawa and Hirano are going to the International Space Station through a partnership with Space Adventures, a company that sells trips to space for tourists. In the early 2000s, the company helped organize trips to the International Space Station for seven people. The flights were paused after the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle, as the space agency needed seats on Russia's Soyuz rockets to get US astronauts and international partners to the International Space Station.
Maezawa went through training in Russia's Star City to prepare for his flight. Maezawa is going to film his time on the International Space Station with the help of Hirano and post his adventures on his YouTube channel. Maezawa came up with a list of 100 things to do in space. He wants to play badminton with Misurkin.
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Yusaku Maezawa is standing in front of a rocket at his company.
Photo by David McNew.
Maezawa, who made his fortune through an online fashion retail business called Zozotown, has an interest in spaceflight. The billionaire bought a trip around the Moon on the future Starship rocket, a vehicle the company is building to take people to the lunar surface and Mars. Maezawa plans to bring up to eight people with him for the mission. He launched a contest to allow anyone around the world to apply to fly with him, to give as many talented individuals as possible the opportunity to go. The idea of a dating reality show to find a girlfriend to go to space with Maezawa was abandoned.
In July, Maezawa posted a video of some of the applications he received from people who wanted to fly with him around the Moon. He said in the video that his team was in the final stages of screening to pick a winner. The Starship rocket hasn't yet flown to space. The company tried to land the prototypes on the ground after they flew above the Earth. One of the prototypes was able to stick the landing. It is possible that the first orbital launch will take place in January or February of 2022. Even if that is a success, there are still many hurdles the company must overcome before it can fly people to the vicinity of the Moon and then land them on Earth.
This trip to the International Space Station is a faster way for Maezawa to get his space fix while he waits. The European Space Agency has a German who is already living on the International Space Station.
