SpaceX Starship Faces Setback After Billionaire Cancels Private Moon Mission

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After seven years since its announcement, SpaceX's first planned private mission to the Moon funded by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has been canceled, the billionaire announced on his social media account early morning today. Maezawa and a crew of three had planned to take a trip around the Moon on the Starship rocket. However, delays with the program have led the billionaire to change his mind. He shared on X that the lack of finality of a launch date was hindering him from moving forward with his life.

Japanese Billionaire Cancels Starship Moon Mission, Citing Uncertainty About Launch Date

Maezawa was initially planned to fly to the Moon on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket and through using the Dragon spacecraft. However, SpaceX shifted him to Starship after it stopped development on a variant of the Dragon spacecraft for crewed lunar missions and it decided to halt the Falcon Heavy's human certification.

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The billionaire announced his crew for the dearMoon mission in 2022, at a time when SpaceX had not flown a single Starship Super Heavy booster. The crew included artists from the U.S. and abroad, with a backup crew also ready to take their role in case of cancelations.

Now, Maezawa and the dearMoon team have confirmed on X that they will not be taking to the skies. SpaceX is due to launch its fourth Starship test rocket later this week, and before SpaceX's second Starship test in late 2023, the dearMoon team had shared that it was excited about the second test since it would allow it to develop a timeline for the mission.

Maezawa had also shared his thoughts on the matter back then, highlighting that while he had initially expected the mission to take place in 2023, it appeared that "it will take a little