Steve Aoki and a YouTuber will be among the first people to travel around the Moon aboard SpaceX’s Starship

Yusaku Maezawa, the billionaire who will pay for the first mission around the moon aboard SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft, has announced the eight “civilians” who will accompany him. He has previously announced that he wants to take artists into space who will then create art based on their unique experience. Of them all, one name might be familiar to a lot of people: Steve Aoki, the electronic music DJ.

The DearMoon mission will take billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his guests around the moon…

The dearMoon mission has been announced since 2018, and in 2023, it could finally take place. However, Starship doesn’t look like it’s ready, as the shuttle hasn’t even been tested for an orbital flight, so there’s a chance the plan could be delayed.

Steve Aoki is just the most “sound” name, but along with him, Maezawa also chose a YouTuber: Tim Todd. He runs the YouTube channel Everyday Astronaut and is passionate about space exploration. Most likely, he will be filming vlogs from space, probably the first youtuber to do so. Apart from South Korean star T.O.P. of Big Bang fame, the other five crew members are artists and photographers from around the world.

The all-guest photo includes ten candidates. Maezawa has apparently also chosen two reserves, in case unforeseen events occur that might prevent one or two members from being able to participate in the mission.

However, it seems that this private mission could also have implications for his NASA contracts. For example, the nearly $3 billion contract for Starship’s inclusion in the Artemis program, which aims to put humans back on the moon, is also contingent, in part, on the success of the DearMoon mission. SpaceX must prove by 2025 that it can get Starship to the moon. But the dearMoon mission is not a lunar landing mission, it will just circle the Earth’s natural satellite.