(CNN) Mandla Maseko, the South African former DJ who won a chance to become the first black African in space, has died in a motorbike crash, his family said in a statement.

Maseko, 30, beat 1 million other contenders to win a trip to space sponsored by the Axe Apollo Space Academy, which had yet to be scheduled by the time of his death.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet. I'm envious of myself," Maseko said at the time in a Guardian interview . "I'm not trying to make this a race thing, but us blacks grew up dreaming to a certain stage. You dreamed of being a policeman or a lawyer, but you knew you won't get as far as pilot or astronaut.

"Then I went to space camp and I thought, I can actually be an astronaut."

He went on to become a private pilot and was also a corporal with the South African National Defense Force, according to this Twitter bio.