“One small handoff for Yusaku Maezawa, one giant delivery for Uber Eats.”
Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa made the out-of-this-world delivery of mackerel, braised pork, and a beef bowl.
The following written contentby Rachel Chang
Uber Eats has proven the great lengths it will go to complete a delivery to an unusual address — the International Space Station (ISS). On Saturday, the company successfully accomplished its first food delivery from Earth to space, bringing a meal to the astronauts on board.
Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa, who is also described as a “delivery superfan,” served as the delivery person eight hours and 34 minutes into his 12-day orbit in space, according to the Associated Press. Traveling 248 miles, he floated into the ISS on Dec. 11 at 9:40 a.m. ET and delivered the space-appropriate meal of ready-to-eat canned Japanese food.
“Thank you for coming to space,” ISS commander Anton Shkaplerov said upon receiving the food in a brown Uber Eats paper bag. Upon his successful delivery, Maezawa, who was dressed in a white T-shirt, shorts, and an Uber Eats cap, said in Japanese, “I just delivered some delicious food. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to handle the first food delivery to space.” The order included mackerel simmered in miso, chicken and bamboo shoots, braised pork, and a Japanese beef bowl.
“One small handoff for Yusaku Maezawa, one giant delivery for Uber Eats,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. “We’re over the moon to have helped make the first successful delivery to space. Our goal is to help people go anywhere and get anything, so we’re proud to serve the astronauts at the International Space Station.”
Khosrowshahi gave Maezawa some slack for his longer-than-normal delivery time, adding that he gets a thumbs up, “even though it took a bit longer than the usual 30 minutes to arrive.”
To celebrate the 248-mile delivery, Uber Eats is offering $10 off orders of $20 or more to the first 24,800 customers who use the code SPACEFOOD from Dec. 13 through 19.
Maezawa is one of the first self-paying space tourists to the ISS since 2009. The 46-year-old hasn’t disclosed the exact sum he paid for his 12-day excursion, but hinted that it’s in the $80 million range, according to the Associated Press. As for his partnership with the food delivery service, he said, “Uber Eats’ initiative and sense of adventure is inspiring. I will never stop challenging myself, and I hope that everyone continues to do the same. Let’s make the world a better place!” Read more from T & L.
