Is having money a sufficient qualification to be sent off into space? At the SpaceX press conference, Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire, will soon get ready to take off to the Moon with six to eight artists on SpaceX’s Big Falcon Rocket optimistically by the year 2023, if production goes smoothly.

Maezawa is one of Japan’s largest fashion entrepreneurs, who has a large interest in many art forms, especially paintings. According to NPR, he has spent over $110 million on the American artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s vintage painting making it the highest amount paid on a US produced artwork at an auction. As Maezawa is very passionate about art, he is launching a #dearMoon project to provide a once of a lifetime experience in art world.

On the dearmoon.earth, #dearEarth’s website, Maezawa explains. “…artists representing the Earth will head for the Moon. A painter, musician, film director, fashion designer… Some of Earth’s greatest talents will board a spacecraft and be inspired in a way they have never been before.” He further explains “People are creative and have a great imagination. We all have the ability to dream dreams that have never been dreamt, to sing songs that have never been sung, to paint that which has never been seen before. I hope that this project will inspire the dreamer within each of us. I hope that this project will inspire the dreamer within each of us.”

 Each of the artist’s seats have already been bought on the space craft for the lunar excursion, so we are eager to see who is going to take the expedition and his thought process as to why he is bringing them. Having a transparent perspective of space and the Moon will create extraordinary art and with the power to document it all, whether it is through paintings, photography or high quality video, will give a new and improved reality tour that has never been explored before. Livestreams and their artist’s artwork could be shared through social media such as YouTube where consumers can relieve their experience while also making it accessible worldwide.

Big Falcon Rocket, BFR, the spacecraft for #dearmoon is currently being developed and built by SpaceX. BFR is a reusable spacecraft that Elon Musk is estimated to cost about $5 billion. Plans to go to the Moon, Mars and even beyond all start with this project, with many years ahead for planning and perfecting this rocket, might lead us into a new future. “It’s dangerous, to be clear,” Musk said. “This is not a walk in the park here. When you’re pushing the frontier, it’s not a sure thing. … There’s some chance that something could go wrong. … We better get that flight right.” If successful, the reality of space tourism will be soon. There is no telling how much it will cost but as time moves, frequent vacations to the moon may be as accessible as a plane trip across the world. 

Nothing has been said on the qualifications and training needed for Maezawa and his chosen artists to go into space. It is expected that more than one professional would journey with them to ensure safety and knowledge, which in turn will lead the training to be minimal. Musk has made considerations about joining the lunar expedition, there is still many years ahead to decide. Fans will patiently wait for the answer in the years to come.

NASA is currently the only space agency with approval to send humanity into space and Moon travel, although SpaceX is not the only company that is working towards space exploration for commercialization. The Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also has a space company, Blue Origin, with a rocket named The New Shepard, is planning to send people in space by 2020. There will be competition between both companies and we are eagerly waiting to see which will be sent off first, success and reusability.