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The Dutch businessman behind a planned one-way trip to Mars, which has received a flood of applicants from China, has dismissed accusations that the project is a scam.

Mars One has been promoted as a manned mission to establish a human colony on the red planet.

Anyone who fits the physical requirements can apply for the trip, with organizers expected to whittle the pool down to 24 to 40 candidates who will get training before a vote by television viewers will decide the four who will make the trip in 2023.

"Our plan is very complicated, but we knew that when we started," Bas Lansdorp, co-founder of the Mars One project, said in an email to China Daily on Monday. "We are committed to landing humans on Mars in 2023. "With all plans of high ambition and complexity, there is a risk for delay," he said, but insisted the project is currently on schedule.

His comments came after Chinese media reports questioned the feasibility and legitimacy of the project.

Guangzhou Daily reported on Monday that the headquarters of Lansdorp's non profit organization is in a rented house with just one employee. "Mars One is registered at my home address because our office is in a Regus flexible workspace office," the e-mail response said, referring to the Luxembourg-based office-furniture manufacturer.

The paper also claimed Mars One has already generated more than $1 million in nonrefundable application fees.

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