ORLANDO, Fla. – Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa has made the decision to cancel his ambitious dearMoon mission, which aimed to take him and a group of artists on a journey around the moon aboard SpaceX’s Starship vehicle. The abrupt cancellation was announced by Maezawa on June 1, citing ongoing delays and a lack of certainty regarding the mission’s launch date.
The dearMoon project had been in the works since 2018 when Maezawa signed a contract with SpaceX to target a launch by the end of 2023. However, as delays mounted and scheduling became uncertain, Maezawa felt compelled to cancel the project, expressing his regret for the situation and the impact on the crew members who had been waiting for the mission to materialize.
Maezawa was the first commercial customer for SpaceX’s Starship, initially announced in 2018 under the name BFR (Big Falcon Rocket). Despite making a significant down payment towards the mission, challenges in development and testing of the Starship vehicle led to the decision to cancel the dearMoon mission.
While SpaceX continues to work towards achieving crewed missions to the moon for NASA and other endeavors, Maezawa’s cancellation represents a setback for the commercial space exploration sector. The dearMoon project, which aimed to inspire through art and exploration, will no longer come to fruition as originally planned.
The cancellation has also sparked disappointment and frustration among those selected to accompany Maezawa on the journey, with some expressing doubts over the project’s integrity and the decision-making process. Despite Maezawa’s previous space journey to the International Space Station in 2021, the dearMoon mission represented a unique opportunity for artistic and cultural exploration beyond Earth’s orbit.
Looking ahead, other commercial lunar missions, such as the one planned by Dennis Tito and his wife, indicate continued interest and investment in space tourism and exploration. As the commercial space industry evolves, challenges and setbacks, such as the dearMoon cancellation, serve as reminders of the complexities and uncertainties inherent in pushing the boundaries of space travel.