Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has announced the cancellation of his planned flight around the moon on a SpaceX vehicle due to uncertainties surrounding the project's timeline. Maezawa had initially revealed his intentions for a lunar flyby voyage in 2018, purchasing seats for eight companions in 2022. This would have marked his second space journey following a 12-day trip to the International Space Station in 2021 aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
The moon trip, originally targeted for 2023, was deemed overly optimistic by many space experts given the progress of SpaceX's Spaceship mega-rocket project. The cancellation was attributed to the project becoming 'unfeasible,' as stated by the mission organizer on Saturday.
Maezawa expressed regret over the decision, acknowledging the support for the project and apologizing for the outcome. The 'dearMoon' project, which had selected eight individuals from a pool of 1 million applicants, included notable figures such as a lead rapper from the K-pop group Big Bang, DJ Steve Aoki, and filmmaker Brendan Hall.
In a message shared on social media, Maezawa cited the inability to plan his future amidst the uncertainty and the desire to avoid further delays for the crew members as reasons for the cancellation. He signed the contract with SpaceX in 2018 with the expectation of a launch by the end of 2023, but the timeline remains uncertain due to the developmental nature of the project.
SpaceX's previous test flights of its mega-rocket encountered setbacks, with two ending in explosions shortly after liftoff and a third resulting in the loss of the spacecraft during descent. Maezawa, known for his success in the retail fashion industry and as the founder of Japan's online fashion mall Zozotown, had ventured to the International Space Station in December 2021 as one of the first self-paying tourists since 2009.
