--- title: "Billionaire Buys SpaceX Moon Trip For Him and His Wife" description: "The world's first-ever private space tourist is hitching a ride to the Moon with his wife — and on a SpaceX Starship, no less. " date: "2022-10-12" modified: "2022-10-12" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/billionaire-spacex-starship-trip-moon-wife" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "space tourism" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # Billionaire Buys SpaceX Moon Trip For Him and His Wife ![The world's first-ever private space tourist is hitching a ride to the Moon with his wife — and on a SpaceX Starship, no less. ]() *\Image: SpaceX\* ## Tito Time The world's first-ever private space tourist is back, and this time he's hitching a ride to the Moon with his wife — aboard a SpaceX Starship, no less. In a [joint interview with *Ars Technica*](), billionaire Dennis Tito — a [onetime Jet Propulsion Lab scientist]()-turned-investment banker who in 2001 bought the first private ride to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket — said that he didn't think he'd ever get another chance to go back into space, or to reach his ultimate dream of flying to the Moon, because he didn't think anyone had the capability. He changed his mind, however, upon visiting SpaceX headquarters with his wife, Akiko Tito, last year. After their tour, the pair began discussing a lunar trip. "We looked at each other," the New York-born billionaire said, "and we knew right away." "I said yes, I want to go," his wife added. ## Maiden Voyage The couple announced today, [via SpaceX](), that they'd purchased two of the dozen seats aboard one of Starship's planned circumlunar flights slated for later this decade. That means that along with being one half of the couple pioneering romantic space getaways, Akiko will also be the first woman to fly on a Starship craft — though, to be fair, so far nobody of any gender has done so yet. As *Ars* notes, the Titos' voyage hinges on SpaceX further developing Starship's capabilities as SpaceX prepares to make its first orbital test flights of the super-heavy-lift launch vehicle [sometime in the very near future](). ## Waiting, Waiting At the age of 82, the billionaire banker is at somewhat elevated risk of complications as the wait continues, though as the report notes, "Star Trek" icon William Shatner was 90 when he took a Blue Origin flight into the [edge of ]()[space](). SpaceX has said that Starship won't be ready for crewed circumlunar flights until at least 2025, but the billionaire said he doesn't mind waiting. "My personal timeframe is that we're willing to wait for as long as we're healthy," he told *Ars*. "We can't force the timeline. It will happen when it happens." It's certainly a chilled-out outlook — and one that's enviable from this side of the class divide. **More space tourism:** [*High Altitude Balloon Startup Reveals Design of Luxurious “Space Lounge”*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()