A trainee is to be put into water during a underwater training at Russia's Star City space training center outside Moscow, March 3, 2010. (Xinhua/Lu Jinbo)
Yusaku Maezawa, CEO of Start Today, Ltd., has begun preparations for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Space Adventures said Thursday.
According to the space experiences company, Maezawa and his production assistant, Yozo Hirano, are planning to get onboard the Russian Soyuz MS-20 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Dec. 8, 2021.
The two have successfully passed the required medical examinations for the space trip.
The spaceflight, to be commanded by cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, will last 12 days, the company said.
Maezawa and his crew will receive about three months of spaceflight training in June at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.
"I'm so curious 'what's life like in space'? So, I am planning to find out on my own and share with the world on my YouTube channel," Maezawa said.
In total, seven self-funded individuals have visited the space station. Maezawa will be the eighth and the first from Japan to take the tour.
