K-pop star TOP, DJ Steve Aoki to join billionaire Maezawa on SpaceX moon trip 

K-pop star TOP, space YouTuber Tim Dodd, and DJ Steve Aoki will be among the eight artists set to take a trip around the moon.

The trip has been sponsored by Japanese fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa. It reportedly costs $5 billion.

Maezawa bought every seat on the maiden lunar voyage way back in 2018. He then selected 10 people from the 1 million applicants for the space trip in a private Starship rocket designed by Elon Musk's SpaceX.

The other passengers include two backup crew members, Indian actor Dev Joshi, Czech artist Yemi AD; Rhiannon Adam, an Irish photographer; British photographer Karim Iliya and American filmmaker Brendan Hall.

The backup crew members are two women: snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist Kaitlyn Farrington (the US) and dancer Miyu (Japan), per a report in The Independent.

Maezawa announced the names of the people selected for the trip on Twitter. He has dubbed the project "Dear Moon." The project will mark the first civilian orbital expedition. The flight will not land on the moon but will orbit it for three days.

"I feel great pride and responsibility in becoming the first Korean civilian going to the moon," TOP said after the announcement.

Initially, Maezawa wanted to take 6–8 artists with him but later expanded the definition of an "artist," to include more people.

Maezawa and the others are expected to fly in 2024. However, the SpaceX ship that is supposed to take them around the moon has yet to conduct its first orbital test flight. US regulators have not given their approval for the much-advertised trip to the moon.

Maezawa founded the online fashion retailer Zozo Inc. and has a net worth estimated by Forbes at $1.7 billion. He is currently the 20th richest person in Japan.

He also visited the International Space Station in December 2021 and spent 12 days there.