Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa already had planned to welcome eight artists during a flight around the Moon aboard SpaceX's Starship. But now, when Starship is still in development and the flight has already been delayed indefinitely, Maezawa says he has canceled the trip.
“I can’t plan my future in this situation,” Maezawa added.
He also said he felt “terrible about making the crew members wait any longer.” Others he would chosen for the flight included DJ Steve Aokifilmmaker Brendan Hall, musician Choi Seung Hyunm and YouTuber Tim Dodd.
Other possibilities which Ars notes for canceling the project include SpaceX's emphasis on its public marketsas well as Maezawa's net worth, which is half of what it was in 2018 (even though it's still valued at over $1 billion). The billionaire also already been in space oncewhen he piloted a Russian Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station, where he stayed for 12 days in 2021.