Japanese Billionaire Cancels SpaceX Moon Mission

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has canceled his planned SpaceX flight around the Moon due to indefinite delays in the development of the Starship. Maezawa, who had intended to take eight artists on the journey, cited the uncertainty of the launch timeline and the impact on his future plans as reasons for the cancellation. The dearMoon project, announced in 2018 with an expected 2023 launch, has faced multiple setbacks, including a recent test flight explosion. Maezawa, whose net worth has halved since 2018, has previously visited space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.