The Japanese billionaire travelling to the moon with SpaceX is holding a competition to find a 'female partner' to go with him

• In 2023 Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is scheduled to go on a trip to the moon aboard SpaceX's Starship rocket.
• Maezawa announced Sunday that he wants to find a "female partner" to accompany him, and will find her via the medium of a "serious matchmaking documentary."
• He tweeted a link to the application page, which stipulates applicants must be over 20 and wish for "world peace."
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Yusaku Maezawa, the Japanese fashion billionaire who is due to take SpaceX's first commercial spaceflight around the moon in 2023, has put out an open application for a "female partner" to accompany him.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced in September 2018 that Maezawa would be the first person to take SpaceX's Starship rocket on a trip around the moon. Maezawa bought tickets for multiple seats aboard the spacecraft, and has said he will be inviting six to eight artists to accompany him.

Now it seems Maezawa wants to reserve one of those seats for a romantic partner, and selecting her via a dedicated reality TV show.

Maezawa tweeted a link to his 7.2 million followers on Sunday with the text: "[WANTED!!!] Why not be the 'first woman' to travel to the moon?"

The link directs viewers to a page taking applications for what appears to be a documentary for Japanese streaming site Abema TV.

The documentary is called "Full Moon Lovers," and is described as "Yusaku Maezawa's serious matchmaking documentary," in which he will search for a lifelong partner to travel to the moon with him. Criteria for applicants include being over 20 years old, having an interest in space travel, and being "someone who wishes for world peace." Maezawa is 44.

The deadline for applications is January 17, and according to the website Maezawa aims to have selected a partner to take to the moon by March this year.

This is not the first bizarre announcement Maezawa has made on Twitter. Earlier this year he pledged to divide $9 million amongst 1,000 of his followers in order to conduct a "social experiment" into whether money makes people happier.

Last year Maezawa sold a 30% stake in his online fashion company Zozo and resigned as CEO, taking a $2.3 billion exit package with him. The billionaire told reporters that his 2023 moon flight was part of the reason he'd decided to step down, saying "training to go into space will take up much of my time."