SpaceX moon billionaire calls off quest for love

Yusaku Maezxawa has abandoned plans to find a girlfriend in space. Photo / Twitter

Turns out a Japanese billionaire's quest for love wasn't written in the stars after all.

Fashion mogul Yusaju Maezawa was on a space mission to find a female "life partner" to accompany him on Space X's maiden tourist flight around the moon.

Ignoring the lack of gravity and hoping to fall for someone, he invited single women over the age of 20 to apply for a "match-making event", and the process would turn into a documentary called "Full Moon Lovers".

Nearly 28,000 women applied for the mission - in what could be considered as a giant leap back for womankind.

But last week, the 44-year-old announced on Twitter he had changed his mind.

"I understand that I have disappointed many people - the applicants and all the staff from AbemaTV who were involved in the production - and I apologise to everyone for my unfavorable actions. I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart," he said in a series of tweets.

"There was a part of me that still had mixed feelings about my participation."

To think that 27,722 women, with earnest intentions and courage, had used their precious time to apply makes me feel extremely remorseful to conclude and inform everyone with this selfish decision of mine.

— 前澤友作┃お金配りおじさん (@yousuck2020) January 30, 2020

"To think that 27,722 women with earnest intentions and courage had used their precious time to apply makes me feel extremely remorseful to conclude and inform everyone [of] this selfish decision of mine."

The tech investor paid an undisclosed amount to buy all seats on SpaceX's first tourist flight to orbit the moon when it was first announced in September 2018. With the historic voyage slated for 2023, Maezawa wanted company on the flight.

"Why not be the 'first woman' to travel to the moon?" tweeted the billionaire at the time, along with the hashtag #MZ_looking_for_love.

[WANTED!!!]
Why not be the ‘first woman’ to travel to the moon?#MZ_looking_for_love https://t.co/R5VEMXwggl pic.twitter.com/mK6fIJDeiv

— 前澤友作┃お金配りおじさん (@yousuck2020) January 12, 2020

"As feelings of loneliness and emptiness slowly begin to surge upon me, there's one thing that I think about: Continuing to love one woman."

On his website, there was a bullet point list of desired characteristics for a potential female companion - including a "bright personality and always positive" and above all "wishes for world peace."

Now that Maezawa has decided to prefer some space in space, he still plans to make the trip in 2023 - just now without a partner as the centre of his universe.