Japanese Billionaire Soars into Outer Space with Russian-Built Capsule

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa took off into outer space this Wednesday morning as the first self-funded tourism mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in the past ten years, aboard the Russian-built Soyuz capsule originally built as part of the Soviet crewed lunar programs.

The capsule blasted off from Russia's Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:38 am ET Wednesday, and it's slated to dock with the ISS around 8:41 am ET.

The billionaire's 12-day journey aboard the ISS is a childhood dream finally fulfilled, along with the veteran Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, commanding the mission, and Maezawa's production assistant, and videographer Yozo Hirano.

The successful online fashion businessman and founder of Zozo became the first space tourist to travel to the ISS for more than a decade.

"I'm so curious of 'what's life like in space'? So, I am planning to find out on my own and share with the world on my YouTube channel," Maezawa said in a recent statement.

A 'Dream Come True'

Aside from the ISS's mission to exemplify the drastic shift the global space industry has taken in the past decade; this journey has also been one of Maezawa's dream as a child.

"I'm excited," he told reporters on the eve of his 12-day journey. "I feel like an elementary school student about to go on an outing. I didn't think I would be able to go to space. I used to like the starry sky and heavenly bodies. I feel fortunate to have this opportunity and to finally fulfil my dream."

The 46-year-old will share his 100-day preparation and experience of induced weightlessness on an adapted plane on his social media platform with more than 750,000 subscribers.

Named by Forbes as Japan's 30th richest person, Maezawa had made headlines with his liking for private jets, supercars and works of art. He did admit that sitting in a spinning chair had been "like torture".

Space Tourism Missions and Adventures

After the eight similar missions for wealthy thrill seekers launched to the ISS in the 2000s, the US-based company Space Adventures that organized these missions took a hiatus after NASA's Space Shuttle program retired in 2011, which is why the Russia's Soyuz spacecraft was the only option for transporting even professional astronauts to the ISS.

However, wealthy adventurers such as Elon Musk's SpaceX had provided additional transportation to the space station for US astronauts.

Space Adventures flights to the ISS typically cost travelers a range between $20 million and $40 million, according to Tom Shelley, the company's president. However, the cost of Maezawa's recent flight has not been disclosed.

"It's certainly within the high tens of millions of dollars," Shelley said.

"When we were doing this 10, 15 years ago ... many people were just not aware that flying to space as a private citizen was possible," he said. "But now - come 2021 - there really is a heightened awareness within the market, and so the discussion is different."

Spaceflight novices like Maezawa and Hirano had to enter a three-month training regimen for their flight. The duo will parachute to a landing in a remote area of Kazakhstan on their return as the standard procedure for a Soyuz flight.