Who will be Elon Musk's first paying passenger on SpaceX moon mission?

Who will be the first passenger to secure a golden ticket to go to the moon in Elon Musk's rocket ship? The bets are on, and seven names have emerged as potential candidates.

Musk's space exploration company SpaceX has already sent a Tesla car and a cage of mice into orbit. Now the billionaire wants to offer the world's first private lunar passenger flight.

Who will be the first to take a seat aboard the Big Falcon Rocket - a privately funded reusable rocket ship developed by SpaceX last year, weighing in at 4.4 million kilos? 

Few details have been revealed so far, save an icon of a Japanese flag in a cryptic tweet from Musk, and the promise of a passenger name on Monday.

According to US space agency Nasa, the rocket could in theory carry up to 100 passengers and a hundred tonnes of cargo into space.

The SpaceX chief executive branded the previous Big Falcon Rocket flight "a risky first attempt" when it sent a car into orbit before twice circling earth and heading off to Mars. If it reaches the red planet by 2022, that could increase the potential for visiting outer planets such as Jupiter and Saturn at lower cost than a proposed Nasa mission.   The company could potentially launch the rocket by mid-2019.

Here is a list of the of the likely candidates that bookmakers Paddy Power, William Hill and Ladbrokes believe could be SpaceX’s first commercial passenger.

Daisuke Enomoto: 2/1

The bookies' favourite candidate is Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto, a former executive at internet provider Livedoor. 

The 47-year-old, who has his own designer space suit styled on a favourite cartoon character, has already tried to travel into space before.

In 2006 he paid $21m to US tourism company Space Adventures to take him to the International Space Station. However, after training for a 10-day flight doctors said Enomoto had a medical condition that would prevent him from flying.

Enomoto later claimed his disqualification was down to the fact he didn’t pay Space Adventures more money.

Takemitsu Takizaki: 5/1

Second on the list is Japanese self-made tycoon Takemitsu Takizaki. The 73-year-old founder of Keyence, an electronic sensor-maker, is valued at $16.4bn making him the fourth richest man in Japan, according to Forbes. His company has a customer list that includes manufacturing giants Toyota and Toshiba.

While he has not previously tried to go to space, Mr Takizaki fits the cryptic clue as a Japanese citizen and could afford the hefty price of a ticket, which puts him in this list of favourites.

Masayoshi Son: 12/1

Masayoshi Son is founder and current chief executive officer of SoftBank, the Japanese technology conglomerate.

The 61-year-old is the richest man in Japan, with a $23bn fortune and is a strong contender as an associate of Musk.

Shigenobu Nagamori:  14/1

Shigenobu Nagamori is another Japanese businessman is considered another potential lunar traveller.

The 73-year-old is the chairman and chief executive officer for Nidec, the world's largest maker of hard disk and optical drive components. A self-made billionaire with an interest in robotics, Mr Nagamori has a fortune estimated at $5.3bn making him Japan’s sixth richest man.

Elon Musk: 20/1

Some Twitter pundits have speculated whether the founder of SpaceX could be the first SpaceX passenger to the Moon. 

Mr Musk has shown ambitions to travel to Mars, but when asked whether he was the passenger on Twitter, the 47-year-old tycoon replied with the Japanese flag, throwing people off the idea.