Japanese billionaire’s ‘$80 million’ flight around the moon with eight other citizens aboard a SpaceX rocket has been CANCELED after too many delays

It was supposed to be one of the largest space flights of the decade and herald a new era of space tourism.

But the ‘dearMoon’ mission – which would carry nine civilians around the moon on SpaceX’s Starship – has been canceled after too many delays.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa – who conceived and funded the mission – said he made the “difficult decision” because it is still “uncertain when Starship will be able to launch.”

Mr Maezawa reportedly paid SpaceX $80 million (£60 million) for the trip in 2018, but it is unclear how much he will be reimbursed.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hopes Starship will eventually land humans on the moon and Mars later this decade, although it is still stuck in the testing phase.

Mr Maezawa shared the news via X (Twitter) that the project had been halted, having already been ‘postponed indefinitely’ in November.

“I signed the contract in 2018 based on the assumption that DearMoon would be launched by the end of 2023,” says the billionaire entrepreneur and art collector.

“It’s a development project, so it is what it is, but it’s still uncertain when Starship can launch.

‘In this situation I cannot plan my future, and I hate that the crew members have to wait longer, hence the difficult decision to cancel at this time.

“I apologize to those who were excited about making this project a reality.”

Responding to Mr Maezawa, an

Someone else replied: “You’re actually canceling because you expected the most ambitious human spacecraft in history to fly on time?”

DearMoon’s website also published a statement calling the project ‘unfeasible’.

“Without clear short-term planning certainty, it is with a heavy heart that Maezawa has made the inevitable decision to cancel the project,” the report said.

MailOnline has contacted SpaceX about what amount Mr Maezawa will be reimbursed.

The civilian mission would orbit the moon aboard SpaceX’s Starship rocket (without landing on it) for about seven days before returning to Earth.

Mr. Maezawa took aim at the lunar voyage by 2023, a target seen by most space observers as overly optimistic given the slow progress of SpaceX’s Spaceship mega-rocket project.

The spacecraft did not reach Earth’s orbit for the first time until March, although it did not make a successful landing in the ocean as planned (fortunately no one was on board).

Mr Maezawa said he has received requests from more than 1 million people from around the world to join him on the ‘space tourism’ trip.

Only eight lucky participants were chosen through a ‘strict screening and selection process’, including a K-pop star, an American Grammy-nominated music producer and a London-based photographer and fossil fuel critic.

Rhiannon Adam, originally from Ireland, is believed to have become the first openly queer woman to go to space.

When asked about the justification for taking a ride on a rocket launch booster that burns two million times faster than an average car, she said the “positives outweigh the negatives.”

Also on board would have been Korean Choi Seung-hyun, who started out as an underground rapper before joining Big Bang, one of the world’s top boy bands, in 2006.

The DearMoon project even revealed the specially made spacesuits to be worn by the crew, designed in-house by SpaceX.

Mr Maezawa – who made a trip to the International Space Station in 2021 – made his fortune in retail by launching Japan’s largest online fashion shopping mall, Zozotown.

In 2019, he resigned as CEO of e-commerce company Zozo Inc to devote his time to space travel.

Forbes magazine estimates his net worth at $1.9 billion.