Japanese Billionaire to Make History in Space
VAUSE: Well, it's good to be a billionaire. It's pretty cool to fly to the moon, but what's even cooler is buying every seat on a commercial flight bound for the moon, and that is what a mega wealthy Japanese entrepreneur is doing just because he can. Here is CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.</s>YUSAKU MAEZAWA, JAPANESE BILLIONAIRE: I choose to go to the moon!</s>KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yusaku Maezawa, announcing his plans to make history as the first tourist to ride around the moon on a SpaceX commercial flight. The Japanese billionaire purchased all of the seats on board the SpaceX Big Falcon Rocket. He wants to fly to the moon with a group of artists.</s>MAEZAWA: At the moment, I have not decided which artists I'd like to invite, but if possible, I'd like to reach out to top artists that represent our planet from various spheres.</s>STOUT: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, says that they are working on a redesign to the Big Falcon Rocket to get Maezawa and team to the moon, more than 384,000 kilometers away, about a five-day trip. It is a big challenge for 3333SpaceX and for the new crop of space tourists.</s>ELON MUSK, CEO OF SPACEX: It's dangerous, to be clear. This is dangerous. This is no, you know, walk in the park here, you know. This will require a lot of training. But whenever it's the first flight of something on a new technology and we're talking about deep space, you know, you have to be a very brave person to do that. This is not -- no small matter.</s>STOUT: Maezawa has taken big leaps before, but all of those have been with his feet on the ground. The musician-turned-entrepreneur is known for his relaxed management style in usually conservative Japan, and he has made a name for himself as a big-spending art collector. In a promotional video of his planned space trip, Maezawa says he believes art has the power to promote world peace. SpaceX says it is enabling access to space for everyday people. Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos and Virgin boss, Richard Branson have also entered the space tourism race. When they are ready to fly, a ticket on one of their rockets would set you back some 200,000 to $250,000. That is a little out of reach for most people, unless you're one of the lucky artists with an invite from Maezawa.</s>MAEZAWA: By the way, if you should hear from me, please say yes and accept my invitation. Please don't say no. OK.</s>STOUT: Blast off for Maezawa and his guests may not happen until around 2023, a trip of a lifetime to make history and inspire art that will be out of this world. Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.</s>VAUSE: Good for him. Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. Stay with us. "WORLD SPORT" is up after the break.