Delayed gratification is the name of the game with space tourism, especially if you're planning on writing history onboard a history-making rocket like the Starship from SpaceX. But this billionaire has had enough of that and is canceling all plans for that history-making mission.
Back in 2018, when Starship was still going by Big Falcon Rocket, Japanese billionaire and art collector Yusaku Maezawa, who also happens to be a passionate and experienced space tourist, announced that he'd struck a deal with Elon Musk for what would become the longest civilian trip to space. It would also be the first civilian trip to the Moon, effectively opening a new era of space tourism in the most proper sense.
Maezawa would pay for the whole thing, including his seat and those of the other crewmembers, nine in total, including himself. As such, he got to call the shots and call dibs on most essential aspects, including the name. The dearMoon mission, which is what Maezawa called it, was scheduled for 2023.
In the meantime, Maezawa would train and select the crew to accompany him. At one point, he even considered launching a reality show so he'd find a girlfriend to fly with him to the Moon and back. In 2021, he also became the first civilian on the International Space Station (ISS).
Photo: Instagram/Yusaku Maezawa
Earlier this month, dearMoon announced that the week-long mission had been canceled. Maezawa decided to pull the plug on the entire project, which means that he's not the only one not to fly on Starship to the Moon: the crew he handpicked would also be staying put.
As for a reason for the cancellation, Maezawa points to the missed 2023 deadline, as well as the fact that, even in mid-2024, there's still no estimated timeline for the Moon launch. There's not even an estimated timeline for the completion of the Starship rocket. In this situation, he can't put his life on hold anymore, he argues.
This coming from a man who's spent a couple of weeks in 2021 on the ISS, kept at his business, and even bought a $350 million megayacht, is rich – and not in the sense of "moneyed." It's not just randoms on social media who are pointing out these discrepancies, but also at least one crewmember.
Photo: dearMoon
Rhiannon Adam, an Irish photographic artist and writer selected as main crew, is among those who have taken to social media to voice criticism of Maezawa's decision. No one in the space industry expects a deadline to stick, especially with a mission as ambitious as the Starship rocket or the Moon fly-by, so it's ridiculous for Maezawa to have done it.
Perhaps worse, Adam is accusing the billionaire of not even informing or consulting the rest of the crew before he made his decision. She and most of the others would have waited, regardless of how many delays the launch had gone through, she says. Dangling a generous dream in front of their noses and then pulling the plug on it so unceremoniously is awful and unprofessional behavior, Adam says.
Maezawa is yet to respond to criticism, assuming he'll ever. Since he was paying for the whole thing, it probably makes sense to him to just offer the explanation and continue with his life.
I can’t plan my future in this situation, and I feel terrible making the crew members wait longer, hence the difficult decision to cancel at this point in time. I apologize to those who were excited for this project to happen.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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