Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa cancels star-studded moon trip
The statement did not give further details on the cause of the cancellation.
In 2022, Maezawa said DJ and producer Steve Aoki of the United States; Tim Dodd, an American YouTuber; Czech artist Yemi AD; Rhiannon Adam, an Irish photographer; British photographer Karim Iliya; American filmmaker Brendan Hall; and Indian actor Dev Joshi, and K-pop musician TOP of South Korea will join him for the journey around the moon on SpaceX’s Starship rocket.
There were also two backup crew members: snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington of the US and dancer Miyu of Japan.
According to a mission profile graphic on the dearMoon website, the round trip was expected to last almost six days and circumnavigate the moon without landing.
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Japanese billionaire Maezawa returns to Earth after 12-day space tourism
Maezawa, the mega-rich founder of Japan’s largest online fashion mall, flew in 2021 to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket, paying a reported 10 billion yen (US$63.5 million).
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse