In less than 24 hours of opening the pre-registration for applicants to sign up and be part in the run for the most coveted all-expense paid trip to Moon, with Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and SpaceX, more than one hundred thousand applications from all over the world have been submitted, said Maezawa, vying for the eight limited spots.

Maezawa, an entrepreneur, art collector and a social activist became the first man to sign up for SpaceX’s moon mission dubbed #dearMoon in 2018, having acquired all the seats aboard Elon Musk’s ‘Starship’ rocket for the first civilian mission planned to be launched in 2023.

Maezawa also decided to bring along eight other creative members of the public across the world on this trip and opened up the global call for applications on March 3 where every pre-registered applicant would receive more details about the selection process via email.

“I’m going to get straight to the point. I’m inviting you to join me on this mission. Eight of you from around the world. It will be 10 to 12 people in all, but I will be inviting eight people to come along on the ride,” said the founder of Japan’s billion-dollar worth largest online fashion mall Zozotown.

He added, "Whatever activity you are into, by going to space, I hope that you can push its envelope to help other people and greater society in some way. I want someone with that kind of potential to take part."

Excitement to be part of this once in a blue moon trip is definitely high and evident with applications coming in from over 200 countries with India, Japan and US seeing the highest number of applicants as of March 3 (6:59AM PST).


According to the dearMoon website, the selection process for the eight public crew members will take place over a five-step process beginning with the pre-registration which will be open until March 14 (6:59AM PST), although this is subject to change.

This will then be followed by an initial screening which will take place by March 21 (6:59AM PST), assignment, online interview and a final interview and medical check-ups by late May this year.



“What’s really significant about the dearMoon mission is that it will be the first private spaceflight, first commercial spaceflight with humans beyond Earth orbit.

"So this never occurred before, and we’re going to go past the Moon, so it will actually end up being further...this mission we expect people will go further than any human has ever gone from planet Earth.

“So I think this will  be very exciting for people to tune in and watch this, and enjoy the flight vicariously,” said Elon Musk in a special YouTube message.

Maezawa who is looking forward for the phenomenal experience, to see our home planet Earth with his own eyes and witness the “Earthrise”,  like sunrise here on Earth from Moon said, “If by going to space, you can do something better, that’s even bigger” and if you are “willing and able to support other crew members who share similar aspirations”, you can take part in this mission and “together we can make it a fun trip.”