Japanese billionaire Maezawa cancels trip to the Moon due to uncertainty over SpaceX rocket development

TOKYO — Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on Saturday canceled his planned flight around the moon aboard a SpaceX vehicle due to uncertainty over when it might be possible.

The tycoon in 2018 launched plans for the lunar flyby trip. He purchased seats for eight fellow travelers in 2022 for what would be his second space trip after his 12-day trip to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2021.

Maezawa was targeting a trip to the Moon for 2023, a goal considered by most space observers to be overly optimistic given the progress of SpaceX’s Spaceship mega-rocket project. This would have been the first private flight around the Moon.

This project has become “unfeasible,” the mission organizer said on Saturday in a press release published on his website. “With no certainty about the short-term timeline, it is with a heavy heart that Maezawa has made the inevitable decision to cancel the project.”

“To all those who supported this project and looked forward to this initiative, we sincerely appreciate it and apologize for this outcome,” it reads.

Maezawa had selected eight people for his “dearMoon” project from 1 million applicants. Among them were a lead rapper from the K-pop group Big Bang, as well as American DJ Steve Aoki and filmmaker Brendan Hall.

Separately on Saturday, Maezawa said in his post on difficult decision to cancel at this stage.”

“I apologize to those who were excited about the completion of this project,” he said.

He said he signed the contract with SpaceX in 2018 assuming launch would be possible by the end of 2023. “It’s a development project, so that’s what it is, but we still don’t know not when Starship can be launched.”

SpaceX’s two test flights of its mega-rocket last year ended in explosions minutes after liftoff. During a third test in March, his spacecraft was lost while returning to Earth.

Maezawa and his producer in December 2021 became the first paying tourists to visit the space station since 2009.

Maezawa made his fortune in fashion retail when he launched Zozotown, Japan’s largest online fashion mall.