INTERNATIONAL: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on Thursday has posted his first photo from space on social media, a day after blasting off to travel to the International Space Station (ISS).

The 46-year-old fashion magnate and art collector became the first space tourist in more than a decade to travel to the ISS when he blasted off on Wednesday, 7 December, a voyage he sees as a dry run for his planned trip around the moon with Elon Musk's SpaceX in 2023. Maezawa is on his trip together with his assistant Yozo Hirano, who will document the journey, as well as Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin.

"Hi from space," Maezawa wrote on his post of a photo of himself floating inside the ISS.

^{PHOTO: STILL PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING JAPANESE BILLIONAIRE YUSAKU MAEZAWA FLOATING INSIDE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION / MESSAGE POSTED BY MAEZAWA ON INSTAGRAM SAYING "HI FROM SPACE"}