Japanese billionaire announces cancellation of SpaceX’s “private trip around the moon”
According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, on June 1, local time, Japanese tycoon Yusaku Maezawa announced the cancellation of the private lunar mission "Dear Moon".
According to previous reports by Japanese media, Maezawa Yusaku booked a trip around the moon with the American Space Exploration Technology Corporation in 2018, with the goal of setting off in 2023 for a one-week round trip to the moon.
SpaceX founder Musk once said that "Dear Moon" is not only the first private trip around the moon in human history, but also the flight distance will exceed the U.S. "Apollo Project" lunar landing mission.
In 2021, Maezawa Yusaku announced that he would recruit 8 people who are willing to travel around the moon with him, and the travel expenses will be borne by himself. Afterwards, he announced the list of 10 people traveling with him.
However, since the plan failed to be realized by the end of 2023 and there was no clear timetable in the near future, Maezawa decided to cancel the project.
"We sincerely thank everyone who supported this project and looked forward to it, and apologize for this outcome. Although the 'Dear Moon' project has been cancelled, Yusaku Maezawa and the project members will continue to challenge themselves in their respective fields." "Dear Moon" website wrote in a statement.
Kyodo News said the statement did not mention whether and when the team would carry out the mission again.
Currently, Musk and SpaceX have not responded.
According to reports, Maezawa Yusaku made his fortune through fashion retail. He founded ZOZOTOWN, one of Japan's largest online fashion malls. In December 2021, Yusaku Maezawa boarded the Russian "Soyuz MS-20" spacecraft, completed a space journey and returned to Earth safely.
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