Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has canceled his planned flight around the moon on a SpaceX vehicle due to uncertainty about when it may be possible. Maezawa had initially launched plans for the lunar flyby voyage in 2018 and bought seats for eight traveling companions for 2022. The billionaire, who had previously taken a trip to the International Space Station in 2021, aimed for the moon trip in 2023, but the project became unfeasible due to uncertainties surrounding SpaceX’s Spaceship mega-rocket project.
In a statement posted on the project’s website, the mission organizer expressed regret over the cancellation, apologizing to those who had supported and looked forward to the endeavor. Maezawa had selected eight people for the “dearMoon” project from 1 million applicants, including a lead rapper for the K-pop group Big Bang and Americans DJ Steve Aoki and filmmaker Brendan Hall.
Maezawa explained that he made the difficult decision to cancel the project as he could not plan his future in the current situation and did not want to keep the crew members waiting longer. He signed the contract with SpaceX in 2018, assuming the launch would be possible by the end of 2023, but uncertainties surrounding the launch date of Starship, the mega-rocket, led to the cancellation.
Despite this setback, Maezawa and his producer became the first self-paying tourists to visit the International Space Station since 2009 in December 2021. The Japanese billionaire made his fortune in retail fashion, launching Japan’s major online fashion mall, Zozotown.
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