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Japan billionaire cancels moon trip due to uncertainty over SpaceX rocket development - ABC NewsJapanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has canceled his planned flight around the moon on a SpaceX vehicle because of uncertainty about when it may be possible
The tycoon in 2018 launched plans for the lunar flyby voyage. He bought seats for eight traveling companions in 2022 for what would be his second space journey after his 12-day trip to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2021.
Maezawa was aiming the moon trip for 2023, a target seen by most space observers as overly optimistic given the progress of SpaceX's Spaceship mega-rocket project. It would have been the first private flight around the moon.
Maezawa, who booked a private trip around the moon on SpaceX's Starship megarocket in 2018, has now scrapped the project ⁘ which he called dearMoon ⁘ after the rocket wasn't ready to fly him and eight hand-picked artists in 2023.
"I signed the contract in 2018 based on the assumption that dearMoon would launch by the end of 2023," Maezawa said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). "It's a developmental project so it is what it is, but it is still uncertain as to when Starship can launch."
If you can't see SpaceX's Starship in person, you can score a model of your own. Standing at 13.77 inches (35 cm), this is a 1:375 ratio of SpaceX's Starship as a desktop model. The materials here are alloy steel and it weighs just 225g.
SpaceX 's Starship and Super Heavy booster make up the world's tallest and most powerful rocket ever to fly. The company launched its first uncrewed Starship test flight in April 2023, but failed to reach space. A second test in November 2023 flew higher but also failed . Starship reached space for the first time on March 14 of this year in a test that reached orbital velocity, but its Starship and Super Heavy booster did not survive to their intended splashdown points.
SpaceX is preparing to launch its fourth Starship test flight on June 5 as part of its development of a crewed Starship to land NASA Artemis astronauts on the moon by 2026.
"I can't plan my future in this situation, and I feel terrible making the crew members wait longer, hence the difficult decision to cancel at this point in time," Maezawa wrote on X . "I apologize to those who were excited for this project to happen."
In December 2022, Maezawa selected a crew of eight artists and creators to join him on his dearMoon flight, but those astronaut hopefuls have had their lunar dreams dashed. The crew included: Tim Dodd, creator of the YouTube channel Everyday Astronaut; D.J. and electronic music producer Steve Aoki; artist and choreographer Yemi A.D.; photographer Karim Iliya; filmmaker Brendan Hall; Indian TV actor Dev Joshi; and South Korean rapper T.O.P. Two backup crewmembers, dancer Miyu and snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington, were also selected.
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