Yusaku Maezawa, the Japanese billionaire named by Elon Musk as the first passenger that SpaceX will send to the Moon, has announced that he'll be holding a contest to find someone to take with him as a 'life partner'.

The 44-year-old entrepreneur is going to become the first civilian passenger to take a journey around the Earth's only natural satellite in 2023 on SpaceX's Starship rocket.

Incidentally, as well as being the first ever commercial trip, Maezawa's journey will also be the first lunar journey that any human has made since 1972.

Announcing his plans online, he said that he wants to find a 'special woman' who will share his journey and - you'd have to think - the experience of a lifetime.

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Yusaku Maezawa. Credit: PA

Well, it's a hell of a date, isn't it?

So, with that in mind, he's asked for women to apply for a 'planned match-making event' on his website.

No idle scrolling through Tinder for Yusaku.

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Well, to be fair to him, he's going to have to spend a journey of around 385,000 kilometres with the chosen person. When you think about that, there's no point in being hasty.

He's heartbroken, too.

Maezawa recently split from his girlfriend, 27-year-old musician Ayame Goriki, so he's single and ready to mingle on the way to the Moon.

Listen to his pitch.

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[WANTED!!!]

Why not be the 'first woman' to travel to the moon?#MZ_looking_for_love https://t.co/R5VEMXwggl pic.twitter.com/mK6fIJDeiv

- Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) 前澤友作 (@yousuck2020) January 12, 2020

He said: "As feelings of loneliness and emptiness slowly begin to surge upon me, there's one thing that I think about: Continuing to love one woman.



"I want to find a 'life partner'.

"With that future partner of mine, I want to shout our love and world peace from outer space."

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Sound like a decent enough pitch? If you fit the criteria, the lucky space traveller could just be you.

First off, you have to be a woman who is single and over the age of 20.

Oh, and you have to be always positive and - of course - have an interest in going into space.

If you fit the bill, and - crucially - are interested in hurtling out of our atmosphere with the kind of man who arranges a contest to find a girlfriend for a space mission, then you've got until 17 January to sign up.

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SpaceX tests one of their Falcon 9 rockets. Credit: PA

Maezawa will be making the final decision on who will accompany him into orbit by the end of March.

As for the mission itself, the Japanese billionaire - who used to play in a hardcore punk band - says that he'll also be bringing a team of artists with him as well.

While it hasn't been disclosed how much he's paid to become Musk's first passenger, Elon himself said that it was 'a lot of money'.