The group also includes the South Korean rapper T.O.P, the space YouTuber Tim Dodd, actor Dev Joshi and Karim Iliya...
Digital Desk: A group of musicians, athletes, and celebrities, including DJ Steve Aoki, are set to join Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on a private SpaceX mission around the moon as soon as next year.
The unorthodox crew was announced in a video posted online Thursday by Maezawa, who said last year that he wanted to include "people from all kinds of backgrounds."
The group also includes the South Korean rapper T.O.P, the space YouTuber Tim Dodd, the actor Dev Joshi and Karim Iliya, as well as backup dancer Miyu and snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington.
In 2018, Maezawa made a deposit for a flight on SpaceX's most powerful next-generation launch vehicle, eventually known as Starship. The founder and former chief executive of online fashion retailer Zozo Inc. dubbed the project "dear moon," and last year solicited video applications from hopefuls seeking to join him on the round-the-moon mission.
While SpaceX has stated that the trip might take place as soon as next year, Starship is still behind schedule and has yet to launch into orbit. SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., had previously stated that the vehicle's first test trip to orbit will take place as soon as December.
Maezawa has already visited the moon. After coordinating with Space Adventures, the billionaire flew to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz rocket in December 2021. He lived on the ISS for a little less than two weeks.
