日本时装界巨头将成为SpaceX第一位私人太空乘客

SpaceX, Elon Musk's space transportation company, on Monday named its first private passenger as Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa, the founder and chief executive of online fashion retailer Zozo.

Maezawa's identity was revealed at an event on Monday evening at the company's headquarters and rocket factory in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne.

Maezawa will take a trip around the moon planned for 2023 aboard SpaceX's forthcoming Big Falcon Rocket spaceship. The 42-year-old billionaire said he would invite six to eight artists to join him on the lunar orbit mission.

The amount he is paying for the trip was not disclosed, however, Musk said the businessman outlaid a significant deposit and will have a material impact on the cost of developing the BFR.

SpaceX has already upended the space industry with its relatively low-cost reusable Falcon 9 rockets. The company has completed more than 50 successful Falcon launches and snagged billions of dollars' worth of contracts, including deals with NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense.