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DearMoon project
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dearMoon project
Artistic rendition of Starship firing its engines during its lunar flyby
Mission typeCrewed lunar flyby (cancelled)
OperatorSpaceX
Websitedearmoon.earth
Mission duration6 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeStarship[1][2]
ManufacturerSpaceX
Crew
Crew size9
MembersYusaku Maezawa
Steve Aoki
Choi Seung Hyun
Yemi A.D.
Rhiannon Adam
Tim Dodd
Karim Iliya
Brendan Hall
Dev Joshi
Start of mission
RocketSpaceX Starship[3]
End of mission
DeclaredJune 2024

dearMoon project insignia

The dearMoon project was a proposed lunar tourism mission conceived and financed by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. It would have seen Maezawa and eight civilian artists fly a circumlunar trajectory around the Moon aboard a SpaceX Starship spacecraft.

Maezawa said he expected the experience of space tourism to "inspire the accompanying passengers in the creation of something new".[3]

The project was unveiled in September 2018 and initially scheduled to launch in 2023.[4] Due to delays in the development of Starship, it was delayed, then cancelled entirely in June 2024.[5][6]

History

[edit]

On February 27, 2017, SpaceX announced that they were planning to fly two space tourists on a free-return trajectory around the Moon, now known to be billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, and one friend.[7] This mission, which would have launched in late 2018, was planned to use the Crew Dragon capsule already developed under contract for NASA's Commercial Crew Program and launched via a Falcon Heavy rocket.[8] As well as being a source of income for the company, any mission would serve as technology development for SpaceX's further plans to colonize Mars.[9]

At the time of the 2017 announcement, Crew Dragon was still under development and the Falcon Heavy had yet to fly. Industry analysts noted that the schedule proposed by SpaceX might be too ambitious, as the capsule was expected to need modifications to handle differences in flight profile between the proposed lunar flight and its main use for crew transfer to space stations orbiting Earth.[10]

In February 2018, SpaceX announced it no longer had plans to certify the Falcon Heavy for human spaceflight and that lunar missions would be flown on Starship (then called BFR).[3][11] Starship is expected to have a pressurized volume of 1,000 m3 (35,000 ft3), large common areas, central storage, a galley, and a solar storm shelter.[12] Then, on 14 September 2018, SpaceX announced that the previously contracted passenger would be launched aboard Starship to fly by the Moon in 2023.[13][14]

The project was unilaterally cancelled by Maezawa in May 2024. Starship development had fallen significantly behind the original SpaceX aspirational date for the flight in 2023—with the lunar flight likely delayed to the 2030s—and Maezawa's net worth had also halved since the time when the DearMoon venture was announced in 2018.[5]

Crew

[edit]

The project was announced in 2018 with the original intent to bring a crew of artists to the Moon. In this latest release, Maezawa calls for applicants to make up a crew of eight individuals from around the world for the week-long lunar trip.

On February 7, 2019, the dearMoon YouTube channel posted a video in which Maezawa discusses the movie First Man with director Damien Chazelle and lead actor Ryan Gosling. In the video, Maezawa officially invites Chazelle to come with him on his dearMoon project, making Chazelle the first person to be publicly invited to go. However, Chazelle answered that he had to think about it and discuss it with his wife.[15] On March 3, 2021, Yusaku Maezawa announced that eight members of the public will be selected to fly on dearMoon.[16][17] On July 16, 2021, Yuzaku Maezawa uploaded a video that reveals 1 million people have joined, but there was still no information on who won the 8 seats.[18]

On December 8, 2022, the crew of the mission was announced, along with two backup crew members.[19][20]

Primary crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft commander Japan Yusaku Maezawa
Would have been second spaceflight
Pilot United States Steve Aoki
Would have been first spaceflight
YouTuber United States Tim Dodd
Would have been first spaceflight
Multidisciplinary Creative Czech Republic Yemi A.D.
Would have been first spaceflight
Photographic Artist Republic of Ireland Rhiannon Adam
Would have been first spaceflight
Photographer United Kingdom Karim Iliya
Would have been first spaceflight
Filmmaker United States Brendan Hall
Would have been first spaceflight
Actor India Dev Joshi
Would have been first spaceflight
Singer South Korea Choi Seung-hyun
Would have been first spaceflight
Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Mission Specialist United States Kaitlyn Farrington
Would have been first spaceflight
Mission Specialist Japan Miyu
Would have been first spaceflight

Objective

[edit]

The dearMoon project passengers would have been Yusaku Maezawa and eight accomplished artists that Maezawa had invited to travel with him for free.[21][7] Maezawa expected this flight to inspire the artists in their creation of new art, which will be presented some time after their return to Earth. He had hoped this project will help promote peace around the world.[1][22][7]

Mission profile

[edit]

Initially proposed to launch in 2023, the circumlunar mission was expected to have taken 6 days to complete,[1] following a free-return trajectory similar to that of Apollo 13. NASA is expected to launch Artemis 2 on a similar trajectory in February 2026, with a crew of four.[23]

Cancellation

[edit]

The mission was cancelled on 1 June 2024, due to Starship's developmental delays.[5][24]

The cancellation was announced on the project website[25] and on X.[26] The cancellation notice[27] stated "Arrangements were being made with SpaceX to target the launch by the end of 2023. Unfortunately, however, launch within 2023 became unfeasible, and without clear schedule certainty in the near-term, it is with a heavy heart that Maezawa made the unavoidable decision to cancel the project".

See also

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to dearMoon.

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

DearMoon project

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
The dearMoon project was a privately funded lunar flyby mission conceived by Japanese billionaire , designed to transport him and eight selected artists around the aboard SpaceX's spacecraft as the first all-civilian circumlunar voyage. Announced in September 2018, the initiative aimed to inspire creative endeavors by exposing participants to the lunar vantage point, with Maezawa funding the endeavor through his wealth from founding the e-commerce firm Co., Ltd. Originally targeting a launch by the end of 2023, the mission's timeline hinged on SpaceX's development, which encountered repeated delays due to technical challenges in achieving orbital flight tests. Crew selection in 2021 drew international artists, including filmmakers, musicians, and photographers from diverse nations, emphasizing the project's artistic rather than scientific focus. Despite preparatory efforts, including custom spacesuits and mission simulations, Maezawa canceled the project on June 1, 2024, citing the infeasibility of meeting the contracted schedule amid ongoing setbacks, though he expressed continued support for . The cancellation highlighted the risks of private space tourism reliant on emerging launch vehicles, underscoring Starship's pivotal yet unpredictable role in enabling such ventures, while the project's legacy persists in the crew's independent pursuits inspired by the aborted journey.

Origins

Announcement and Founding

On September 17, 2018, during a SpaceX presentation at the International Astronautical Congress, Elon Musk announced that Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa had contracted to become the first private passenger on a circumlunar mission aboard the company's Starship vehicle, then known as the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR). Maezawa, who stated he had secured the funding for the entire trip himself, expressed his intent to invite artists from around the world to join him, framing the journey as an opportunity to inspire creativity through exposure to space. Maezawa, born in 1975, built his fortune as the founder of Co., Ltd., which launched the online fashion platform ZOZO in 2004, revolutionizing apparel retail in . By 2018, his exceeded $2 billion, primarily from the company's growth and its eventual $2.3 billion acquisition by Yahoo Japan in 2019, though he retained significant influence. The dearMoon project's cost remained undisclosed, but confirmed Maezawa's personal payment covered the mission, estimated by industry observers to run into hundreds of millions of dollars given Starship's development scale. From inception, Maezawa envisioned dearMoon as more than , aiming to harness the 's enduring allure to foster global artistic ; he remarked, "Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the . It's always there and continues to inspire humanity," and pledged to select companions whose works could capture and share the experience's transformative potential. This artist-centric approach contrasted with Maezawa's briefly considered but abandoned 2020 idea of selecting a female companion via public application, which drew over 27,000 responses before being canceled for personal reasons, redirecting focus back to inspirational collaboration.

Initial Funding and Partnership with SpaceX

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa fully funded the dearMoon project through personal resources derived from the sale of his fashion retail company ZOZO, committing to cover all mission costs without government subsidies or public funding. On September 17, 2018, Maezawa announced his agreement with SpaceX, which included a significant undisclosed deposit to secure priority for the company's inaugural private crewed lunar mission. This financial commitment positioned dearMoon as a pioneering commercial venture, leveraging SpaceX's reusable Starship system—unveiled earlier that year as an evolution of the BFR concept—to enable a lunar flyby without reliance on expendable rockets or state-backed programs. The partnership stipulated that SpaceX would configure for a multi-day , adapting the vehicle's crewed upper stage to support Maezawa's entourage of artists while advancing the reusability paradigm central to SpaceX's architecture. Maezawa's upfront payment de-risked portions of 's development, which estimated at approximately $5 billion overall, by providing non-governmental revenue streams that accelerated iterative testing and prototyping beyond the timelines typical of legacy contractors dependent on fixed-price contracts or subsidies. This model underscored private capital's role in catalyzing rapid innovation in heavy-lift rocketry, contrasting with historical precedents where public funding dominated lunar exploration efforts.

Objectives and Design

Inspirational and Artistic Aims

The dearMoon project sought to leverage a private lunar flyby mission as a platform for artistic inspiration, selecting six to eight artists to join financier in orbit around the Moon to create works reflecting their extraterrestrial experiences. Maezawa described the endeavor as "an art project staged in space," explicitly aimed at enabling participants to produce outputs that could "contribute to and prosperity" by broadening human perspectives on existence. This objective stemmed from Maezawa's belief that exposure to the Moon's grandeur, a longstanding muse for humankind, would ignite innovative creativity unbound by terrestrial constraints. Central to the project's philosophy was the conviction that profound spatial vistas catalyze paradigm-shifting art, echoing historical precedents such as the Apollo program's cultural ripple effects—including iconic imagery like that reshaped environmental and humanistic awareness—though Maezawa emphasized direct personal immersion over mere observation. He posited that art derived from such journeys fosters unity, stating, "Art makes people smile, brings people together," positioning the mission as a deliberate to conventional by embedding the creative process within the inspirational source itself. Unlike data-driven scientific expeditions, dearMoon foregrounded subjective, transformative human encounters to yield diverse outputs—potentially spanning music, visuals, and performance—intended to challenge artistic boundaries and promote global betterment without predefined metrics of success.

Mission Parameters and Technical Specifications

The dearMoon mission was designed as a circumlunar , propelling the Starship spacecraft from via to loop around the Moon in a figure-eight path without engine firings for orbital insertion or . This approach would bring the to a closest approach of approximately 200 kilometers from the lunar surface, enabling direct observation while minimizing propulsion demands beyond the initial delta-v of roughly 3.2 km/s for the flyby. The total mission duration was planned for six days, commencing with launch to Earth orbit aboard the Super Heavy booster, followed by propellant transfer from tanker Starships to achieve the necessary performance for deep-space transit and return. The spacecraft selected was SpaceX's , a fully reusable two-stage system comprising the upper stage (optimized for vacuum operations with six Raptor Vacuum engines) and the Super Heavy first stage (powered by 33 Raptor engines), emphasizing cost efficiency through rapid turnaround and minimal expendable hardware. The configuration for dearMoon prioritized crewed deep-space capability, drawing on principles akin to the variant—such as extended propellant capacity for translunar maneuvers—but adapted for non-landing operations without the HLS's surface propulsion or Gateway docking adaptations. The upper stage's approximately 1,000 cubic meters of pressurized volume would accommodate nine passengers, including provisions for systems (closed-loop air and ) scaled for short-duration exposure beyond . mitigation relied on the vehicle's stainless-steel hull, header tanks, and potential use of stored or supplies as passive shielding in designated storm shelters during solar particle , though no mission-specific enhancements beyond standard designs were publicly detailed. Initial mission targets set a launch window for 2023, contingent on achieving orbital refueling, reliable reentry, and human-rating through iterative ground and , where anomalies and vehicle destructions during prototypes provided empirical data to refine reliability under real-world conditions. This development paradigm underscored the necessity of physical validation over simulation alone, with each test incrementing knowledge of thermal protection, , and margins essential for the mission's uncrewed precursors and eventual crewed profile.

Crew Assembly

Selection Criteria and Process

The dearMoon project opened a public application process on March 2, 2021, inviting individuals worldwide to join on the circumlunar mission, with a focus on selecting creatives such as artists, musicians, and innovators rather than trained astronauts. The call emphasized applicants' potential to produce works inspired by the experience that would contribute positively to society, explicitly deprioritizing technical space qualifications in favor of inspirational impact. Maezawa specified two primary criteria: candidates must outline how the mission would advance their creative endeavors, and they must demonstrate willingness to collaborate and support others sharing similar aspirations. Applications were submitted via the project's , drawing over one million submissions globally, which Maezawa and his team reviewed for alignment with the mission's goal of fostering diverse, boundary-pushing creativity. involved personal vetting by Maezawa to ensure participants embodied the project's ethos of democratizing space travel for non-professionals, avoiding reliance on traditional credentials or institutional endorsements. This approach aimed to select individuals whose post-mission outputs—such as art, music, or media—could amplify the human experience of to broader audiences. Transparency in the process was maintained through verifiable public announcements, culminating in the December 8, 2022, reveal of eight primary crew members and two backups, selected without evidence of or favoritism beyond merit against the stated inspirational benchmarks. By centering on subjective yet mission-aligned evaluations of creative promise, the underscored Maezawa's intent to redefine participation as accessible to civilians driven by artistic vision rather than elite training.

Crew Composition and Backgrounds

The dearMoon crew was composed of Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa as the mission owner and primary funder, joined by eight civilian artists and creators from diverse international backgrounds, with two designated backups, all selected in December 2022 for their potential to document and interpret the lunar experience through creative lenses rather than scientific or operational roles. This selection emphasized an eclectic mix of professions including musicians, filmmakers, photographers, and performers, spanning countries such as the United States, South Korea, Ireland, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, India, and Japan, underscoring the project's aim to inspire global artistic expression. None of the crew except Maezawa, who had prior spaceflight experience aboard the International Space Station in December 2021, possessed professional astronaut training, highlighting the regulatory flexibility of private commercial spaceflight compared to government-led missions requiring extensive preparation in engineering, piloting, or life sciences. Maezawa, aged 47 at the time of the crew announcement, built his fortune through Co., Ltd., operator of the ZOZO online fashion platform, and positioned the mission as a platform for crew members to create works reflecting humanity's view of from . Key primary crew included , a U.S.-based electronic music DJ and producer who founded the Dim Mak and has pioneered NFT integrations in music; , an American content creator known as Everyday Astronaut on , with millions of subscribers focused on rocket technology explanations; and Choi Seung-hyun (professional name T.O.P.), a South Korean musician and former lead rapper of the K-pop group BIGBANG, also recognized as an actor and collector. Other primary members encompassed Yemi A.D., a Czech multidisciplinary artist and choreographer who established JAD Productions and serves as a ; Rhiannon Adam, an Irish photographic artist specializing in social documentaries shaped by her nomadic upbringing; Brendan Hall, a U.S. documentary filmmaker with credits including projects; Dev Joshi, an Indian child actor starring in the television series and founder of an NGO for underprivileged youth; and Karim Iliya, a British photographer and filmmaker advocating ocean conservation through whale-swimming expeditions. The backups were U.S. Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington, gold medalist in slopestyle at the 2014 Games, and Japanese dancer , a professional choreographer with international performance experience. This composition prioritized individuals capable of producing art, media, or narratives from the mission, such as Dodd's technical visualizations or Adam's visual storytelling, over traditional mission specialists.
Crew MemberNationalityPrimary ProfessionNotable Background
EntrepreneurFounder of ZOZO; prior ISS mission in 2021.
DJ/ProducerGrammy-nominated; Dim Mak label founder.
Content CreatorEveryday Astronaut YouTube channel on space tech.
Choi Seung-hyun (T.O.P.)Musician/ActorBIGBANG member; art collector.
Yemi A.D.ChoreographerJAD Productions founder; .
PhotographerSocial documentary specialist.
Brendan HallFilmmaker collaborator.
Actor/Influencer star; NGO operator.
Karim IliyaPhotographer/FilmmakerOcean conservation advocate.

Development Timeline

Early Preparations (2018–2021)

Following the September 17, 2018, announcement at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, Yusaku Maezawa initiated promotional efforts to generate global interest in the dearMoon project, emphasizing its goal of inspiring creativity through a civilian lunar flyby mission aboard a Starship vehicle. Maezawa stated his intention to invite eight artists from diverse fields to join him, framing the voyage as an opportunity for participants to create works reflecting their experience of space and Earth from lunar orbit. The project launched its official website, dearmoon.earth, shortly after the announcement to disseminate details on the mission's inspirational aims and to solicit interest from potential artists worldwide. Maezawa leveraged and public statements to build hype, describing the mission as a means to foster boundary-pushing unbound by or perspective. Integration with began immediately, with Maezawa securing a for the flight as the company's first private lunar passenger mission, coinciding with early prototype development including the vehicle tests in 2018–2019. Maezawa attended key events, including speaking engagements at the Hawthorne facility to align on mission parameters. By early 2021, preparations refined the selection model toward accomplished creators, with Maezawa announcing on March 2 an open application process for eight public seats alongside his own participation, prioritizing those who could contribute uniquely to artistic or cultural outputs from the journey. This phase focused on logistical groundwork, such as preliminary spacesuit adaptations through collaboration, without yet finalizing crew composition.

Crew Announcement and Training (2022–2023)

On December 8, 2022, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced the selection of eight civilian crew members to join him on the dearMoon mission aboard SpaceX's Starship, emphasizing their diverse artistic backgrounds to foster creative inspiration during the circumlunar flight. The crew included American DJ and producer Steve Aoki, South Korean rapper TOP (Choi Seung-hyun), British-Nigerian choreographer and filmmaker Yemi A.D., New Zealand-born photographer Rhiannon Adam, American space educator Tim Dodd (known as Everyday Astronaut), Indian actor Dev Joshi, American filmmaker and producer Karim Iliya, and British director Luke Haill. None of the selected individuals had prior spaceflight experience, with selection prioritizing artistic merit over technical qualifications as per Maezawa's criteria of choosing "people from around the world who want to create something positive" from over one million global applicants. The announcement, disseminated via a project video and , garnered widespread media attention, highlighting the mission's novel fusion of private space travel and cultural expression, though some outlets noted the crew's lack of as a departure from traditional selections. Two backup crew members, filmmaker Brendan Hall and dancer , were also named to provide redundancy. In early 2023, the crew commenced preparatory activities coordinated with SpaceX, including visits to the company's Boca Chica, Texas facilities to observe Starship development and launches, as part of initial onboarding to familiarize participants with the vehicle's operations. Training protocols mirrored those for prior SpaceX civilian missions like Inspiration4, incorporating simulations for microgravity adaptation, emergency response, and basic spacecraft systems, adapted for the crew's non-professional status to ensure operational readiness without extensive prior expertise. Crew members demonstrated adaptability through these sessions, with public accounts from participants like Dodd underscoring the focus on practical skills such as zero-gravity maneuvering and procedural drills. Promotional efforts during this period featured crew interviews and collaborative art concepts shared on the dearMoon website and social channels, where members outlined personal projects like in-flight and production to capture the lunar experience, illustrating the project's rapid assembly of a cohesive via private funding. These outputs emphasized the initiative's efficiency in onboarding diverse civilians compared to government-led programs, with Maezawa stating the group aimed to "make the most of this rare opportunity" for creative output.

Escalating Delays (2023–2024)

The dearMoon project's initial target for a 2023 launch was not achieved, primarily due to setbacks in SpaceX's development during its early integrated flight tests. On April 20, 2023, the first integrated flight test (IFT-1) of the Super Heavy booster and upper stage lifted off from Starbase, Texas, but encountered multiple Raptor engine shutdowns on the booster during ascent, followed by a failure to complete stage separation, resulting in the rapid unscheduled disassembly of both stages. This incident triggered a (FAA) mishap investigation, which identified issues including inadequate flight termination system performance and launch site damage from debris, leading to a grounding of the program until corrective measures were implemented. On November 9, 2023, project founder issued a public update stating that the 2023 had become unfeasible amid ongoing testing, with further timeline details to follow the results of the second integrated flight test (IFT-2). IFT-2 occurred on November 18, 2023, achieving orbital velocity for the upper stage but ending in its destruction due to a leak and subsequent fire, while the booster successfully executed a partial return but disintegrated during reentry. These tests highlighted the empirical challenges of validating a fully reusable , necessitating iterative hardware modifications such as enhanced engine reliability and thermal protection systems, which extended development timelines beyond initial projections. Regulatory scrutiny compounded the slippages, as FAA reviews after each anomaly required demonstrations of compliance, delaying subsequent flights by months—IFT-2 clearance came only after addressing 63 corrective actions from IFT-1. Into 2024, similar patterns persisted with IFT-3 on , where the upper stage lost attitude control and exploded despite reaching space, further underscoring the need for repeated real-world validations to achieve the rapid reusability essential for lunar missions, in contrast to the slower, certification-heavy approaches of legacy programs like NASA's . Maezawa's updates emphasized patience with these realities, but persistent uncertainties in Starship's progression to crewed, lunar-capable operations pushed projected windows into 2024 and beyond without firm dates.

Cancellation

Official Decision and Stated Rationale

On June 1, 2024, announced the cancellation of the dearMoon project via a statement on the official website and social media. Maezawa cited the absence of "clear schedule certainty in the near-term" for the mission's launch on SpaceX's vehicle as the primary factor, noting that continued uncertainties prevented setting a reliable timeline. Maezawa emphasized the human impact, stating, "I cannot wait indefinitely while my crew members' lives are on hold," reflecting his unwillingness to prolong the suspension of participants' professional and personal commitments amid protracted development delays. The decision aligned with empirical observations of Starship's timeline slippage: initial project assumptions targeted a 2023 launch, but by mid-2024, no concrete date existed beyond vague projections extending past 2025, rendering indefinite postponement untenable. Following the announcement, the dearMoon website was promptly updated with a notice expressing apologies to supporters and confirming the project's termination, while affirming that Maezawa and crew members would pursue individual endeavors. As a privately funded initiative primarily backed by Maezawa's resources, the cancellation avoided broader refund processes but marked the end of allocated commitments, including any prior payments to .

SpaceX Starship Development Context

The development of SpaceX's vehicle, designed for full reusability and interplanetary missions, has progressed through a series of integrated flight tests (IFTs) initiated with IFT-1 on April 20, 2023, which ended in an explosion minutes after liftoff due to engine and staging failures. Subsequent tests, including IFT-2 in November 2023 and further iterations through IFT-11 on October 13, 2025, have yielded six successes and five failures, with persistent issues in areas such as upper-stage reentry, integrity, and transfer. These outcomes reflect the challenges of scaling a novel architecture involving the Super Heavy booster and upper stage, each powered by clusters of Raptor engines. Key delays stem from post-flight Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mishap investigations, which mandate root-cause analyses and corrective measures before license renewals; for example, after IFT-4 in June 2024, FAA scrutiny extended timelines amid procedural non-compliance findings. Supply chain bottlenecks, exacerbated by high-cadence prototyping and material demands for stainless-steel structures, have compounded these regulatory hurdles, limiting launch frequency to fewer than a dozen tests by late 2025 despite ambitions for dozens annually. As a result, Starship remains unproven for crewed operations, with no orbital insertion of a crew module or demonstration of life-support systems in vacuum. The dearMoon project's reliance on as an early commercial platform for a crewed lunar flyby underscored the necessity of uncrewed milestones—such as reliable orbital refueling and Earth-return survivability—prior to , a sequence not yet achieved by October 2025. Independent evaluations, including NASA's safety panels for the -derived , project multiyear setbacks for crewed deep-space readiness, citing unresolved risks in propulsion reliability and abort scenarios. This dependency exposed the temporal uncertainties in private innovation, where 's test-driven approach contrasts with the hundreds of validated successes (over 560 launches with near-perfect reliability by late 2025), yet mirrors the probabilistic nature of breakthrough technologies absent Apollo-era redundancies.

Reception and Controversies

Positive Assessments and Achievements

Yusaku Maezawa's funding of the dearMoon project marked SpaceX's first commercial contract for a circumlunar mission, announced on September 17, 2018, thereby injecting private capital into the rocket's early development phase at a time when the program relied on such revenue streams to advance reusable launch technologies. This financial commitment supported iterative testing and prototyping of , contributing to milestones like the vehicle's first integrated flight tests, by providing non-governmental resources that accelerated engineering progress beyond traditional public funding constraints. The project's emphasis on an all-artist crew, revealed on December 8, 2022, promoted the intersection of creative disciplines and , with participants such as DJ and photographer positioned to generate artworks inspired by lunar vistas, thereby expanding public engagement with orbital perspectives. Maezawa's open crew selection process, launched on March 2, 2021, drew global applicants from varied professions, underscoring burgeoning interest in civilian and elevating awareness of accessible private missions as alternatives to state-led programs. By demonstrating billionaire-backed initiatives could bypass institutional delays, dearMoon exemplified market-driven innovation in , aligning with 's goal of drastically reducing costs through full reusability to enable frequent, affordable lunar trips.

Criticisms and Skeptical Viewpoints

Critics have characterized the dearMoon project as a endeavor, prioritizing artistic inspiration over substantive scientific or exploratory objectives, with Yusaku Maezawa's selection of a composed primarily of creatives rather than researchers or engineers drawing particular scrutiny. This approach was seen by some as diverting focus from utilitarian space ambitions, such as advancing SpaceX's Mars efforts, toward a more symbolic circumlunar flyby aimed at generating artifacts. From an economic perspective, detractors questioned the return on investment for a mission estimated to cost around $500 million, lacking revenue generation or direct technological spin-offs beyond promotional value for and Maezawa's personal brand. The project's high expenditure on a non-essential lunar flight was viewed as emblematic of escapism, especially amid terrestrial challenges like and needs, with little evidence of broader societal benefits justifying the outlay. Left-leaning critiques framed dearMoon within the wider issue of tourism's , arguing that funding such exclusive ventures perpetuates inequality by channeling vast private wealth into experiences inaccessible to the public while earthly disparities persist. Conversely, some right-leaning observers dismissed it as wasteful hype, a generating media buzz without delivering verifiable outputs like new data or , ultimately amounting to unsubstantiated spectacle rather than progress.

Participant and Public Reactions to Cancellation

The dearMoon crew expressed profound disappointment over the abrupt cancellation announced on June 1, 2024, describing it as sudden and unexpected without prior consultation. Irish photographer , selected as a crew member, stated she was "devastated," viewing the decision as a "missed opportunity" to inspire hope through art and criticizing project founder for wasting two years of the crew's preparation time rather than redirecting resources elsewhere. Similarly, multidisciplinary artist called the news "unfortunate" but affirmed an unwavering commitment to initiatives, while filmmaker Brendan Hall condemned the lack of crew input despite their willingness to endure further delays. Despite the shock, several participants voiced gratitude for the opportunity and the personal growth derived from the experience, with no reports of legal disputes or demands for compensation. South Korean artist T.O.P. (Choi Seung-hyun) emphasized profound thanks to Maezawa for assembling a global artistic collective, noting the project forged deep personal connections to space that inspired new music compositions, and declared his lunar ambitions as a lifelong goal undeterred by the cancellation. By early 2025, crew members had pivoted to independent pursuits, such as Adam's ongoing photography exploring space travel fantasies, reflecting resilience amid the setback without evidence of acrimony toward SpaceX or Maezawa. Public reactions blended sympathy for the artists' dashed aspirations with pragmatic acceptance of uncertainties in Starship's development timeline, avoiding unsubstantiated claims of fraud or mere publicity stunts. Online forums like featured mixed sentiments, with users lamenting the loss of a culturally ambitious mission while acknowledging the realism of extended delays in unproven heavy-lift rocketry. Media coverage, including from SpaceNews and , portrayed the event as a sobering illustration of high-risk private ventures, where optimistic 2023 launch projections yielded to empirical setbacks without contractual breaches. Cynical outlets highlighted the human cost to participants' timelines, yet broader discourse underscored the project's role in advancing civilian lunar access ambitions, even if unrealized.

References

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  23. https://www.10news.com/news/national/japanese-billionaire-searching-for-8-people-to-join-him-on-free-trip-around-the-moon
  24. https://www.space.com/dearmoon-announces-moon-crew-spacex-starship
  25. https://spacenews.com/japanese-billionaire-selects-crew-for-circumlunar-starship-flight/
  26. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-apply-to-spacex-flight-moon-starship-yusaku-maezawa-2021-3
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  28. https://www.space.com/yusaku-maezawa-dearmoon-contest-seeking-crewmembers
  29. https://www.space.com/meet-dearmoon-crew-spacex-moon-mission
  30. https://www.teslaoracle.com/2022/12/10/yusaku-maezawa-unveils-dearmoon-mission-crew-tim-dodd-aka-everyday-astronaut-makes-it-to-the-list/
  31. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seLIoTJ2VXY
  32. https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/1dqm339/can_anybody_with_access_to_this_article_tell_us/
  33. https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/spacex-starship-dearmoon-maezawa-musk-19492676.php
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  37. https://www.today.com/video/dearmoon-member-discusses-civilian-mission-to-orbit-moon-157401157868
  38. https://x.com/dearmoonproject
  39. https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/04/20/starship-test-flight-1-mission-status-center-2/
  40. https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/09/08/faa-concludes-starship-mishap-investigation-63-corrective-actions-needed-before-second-flight/
  41. https://dearmoon.earth/pdf/dearMoon_EN_231109.pdf
  42. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-launch-super-heavy-starship-rocket-2nd-test-flight-2023-11-18/
  43. https://www.spacex.com/updates
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  45. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-japan-billionaire-maezawa-cancels-moon.html
  46. https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/why-japanese-billionaire-cancelled-the-private-mission-to-the-moon-2547737-2024-06-03
  47. https://qz.com/spacex-starship-delays-elon-musk-yusaku-maezawa-moon-1851515545
  48. https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/2/24169972/spacex-starship-billionaire-lunar-flight-dearmoon-canceled-delays-yusaku-maezawa
  49. https://www.space.com/news/live/spacex-starship-missions-updates
  50. https://www.faa.gov/space/stakeholder_engagement/spacex_starship
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  52. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/24/spacex-rocket-launch-delay-faa-00180730
  53. https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/nasa-safety-panel-estimates-significant-delays-for-starship-hls/
  54. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/07/spacex-roundup-q22025
  55. https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/2/22309546/japanese-billionaire-maezawa-dear-moon-spacex
  56. https://www.inverse.com/science/spacex-inspiration4-art
  57. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/which-artists-should-the-japanese-billionaire-yusaku-maezawa-invite-to-the-moon
  58. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/behind-the-demise-of-a-quirky-billionaires-spacex-moon-mission
  59. https://www.duke.lu/dearmoon
  60. https://chicagocrusader.com/space-travel-of-the-rich-and-famous-illustrates-elitism-and-misguided-priorities/
  61. https://futurism.com/the-byte/billionaire-dearmoon-cancellation-crew
  62. https://www.thejournal.ie/dear-moon-mission-cancelled-6396419-Jun2024/
  63. https://www.soompi.com/article/1665450wpp/t-o-p-shares-message-after-cancellation-of-spacexs-dearmoon-project-hints-at-new-music
  64. https://wepresent.wetransfer.com/stories/rhiannon-adam-photography-dear-moon
  65. https://www.mashable.com/article/spacex-starship-cancel-moon-flight-japanese-billionaire-yusaku-maezawa
  66. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/06/heres-why-a-japanese-billionaire-just-canceled-his-lunar-flight-on-starship/
  67. https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/1d5fmi8/cancellation_of_the_dearmoon_project/
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