Japanese billionaire Maezawa 'dearMoon' mission cancels moon flyby

TOKYO: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has announced the cancellation of his ambitious "dearMoon" mission, which aimed to be the first private flight around the moon. The project team had initially planned to complete the circumlunar flight with celebrities on board by the end of the previous year, but this goal became "unfeasible," according to a statement on the mission's website.

"Without clear schedule certainty in the near-term, it is with a heavy heart that Maezawa made the unavoidable decision to cancel the project. To all who have supported this project and looked forward to this endeavor, we sincerely appreciate it and apologize for this outcome," the company said in its statement.

Elon Musk's SpaceX had named Maezawa, the founder of the Japanese online fashion store Zozo Inc, as its first private passenger in 2018.

Three years later, he became the first private passenger to visit the International Space Station in over a decade, launching on a Soyuz rocket.

Last year, Maezawa announced that K-pop star TOP and DJ Steve Aoki would be among the eight crew members he intended to take on the dearMoon mission. However, in November, he stated that the flyby mission would be postponed until this year or later.