Maezawa, 42, is a rock composer and high-end art collector. He said he would invite 6-8 people including artists, architects, designers and other creators to accompany him on this whole-week journey.
Maezawa is estimated by Forbes to be worth 2.9 billion USD, ranking 18th among the richest people in Japan. He was first listed as a world billionaire in 2015, with a then-asset value of 1.3 billion USD.
"I want to share this experience with as many people as possible. So I chose to go to the moon with artists," Maezawa said at a press conference on Monday.
The four- or five-day trip would take Maezawa on the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, a new spaceship system under construction by SpaceX.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said she hopes the spacecraft will conduct short test flights next year.
Shotwell also said that a full-scale missile could achieve its first orbit in 2020 and could provide goods to the Moon or Mars in 2022.
Musk warned at a press conference that SpaceX is uncertain about when 2023 will be for the lunar tourism mission. SpaceX has updated the design for the BFR rocket for the third time in three years, he said. The latest designs mark the official design of the missile, which is expected to cost around $5 billion.
When asked why the company is still making the changes, Musk said he "dislike the aesthetics" of the previous version. The new design "may be better," but "it's a bit technically risky," Musk said.
