Here's why a Japanese billionaire just canceled his lunar flight on Starship

It is unfortunate to be announcing that 'dearMoon', the first private circumlunar flight project, will be cancelled. We thank everyone who has supported us and apologize to those who have looked forward to this project.

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.

Maezawa and Musk made the announcement, side by side, at SpaceX's rocket factory in September 2018. It seemed significant that SpaceX was signing its first commercial contract for the massive Starship rocket.

Maezawa always came off as a bit non-serious, holding a competition to fill 10 other seats on board the vehicle. 'I did not want to have such a fantastic experience by myself,' he said.

Read at Ars Technica