You are here
Home > News > Japanese billionaire returns to Earth after almost two weeks in space

Japanese billionaire returns to Earth after almost two weeks in space

Japanese fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa, his assistant Yozo Hirano, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin made a soft landing inside a Russian Soyuz capsule, about 148 kilometres southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan, central Kazakhstan, on Monday, after spending 12 days on the International Space Station.

Spaceship with Japanese billionaire arrives at ISS

A Russian spacecraft with Japanese fashion magnate Yusaku Maezawa on board docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, the…

see more

After their capsule landed, Russian rescue teams arrived to assist the crew and conduct medical examinations.



The Japanese billionaire and his 36-year-old assistant, Yozo Hirano, were the first tourists to visit the space station at their own expense since 2009. As for the Russian cosmonaut, this was his third space mission.


Last week in a live interview with the Associated Press, orbiting in the International Space Station, Mr Maezawa said that “once you are in space, you realise how much this amazing experience is worth having,”


The billionaire was asked if he had paid over USD 80 million for the 12-day mission. To the question he responded that he could not disclose the contract amount, but admitted that he paid “quite a lot” of that amount.


The first private space mission around an Earth satellite was organised by the American company SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk.


Mr Maezawa made a fortune creating Zozotown, the largest Japanese clothing store on the internet. Forbes magazine estimates his fortune at USD 2 billion.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Top