Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa had to cancel his planned trip to the moon aboard SpaceX’s rocket, Starship. The voyage, originally scheduled for 2023, was deemed unfeasible due to delays. Maezawa first announced the project in 2018 and described it as the world’s first civilian circumlunar voyage. Unfortunately, the uncertain launch schedule prompted the cancellation of the project.
Maezawa confirmed the cancellation with a post on social media, explaining that he couldn’t plan his future in the current situation and felt terrible making the crew members wait longer. He apologized to those who were looking forward to the project. In a statement published on the dearMoon website, Maezawa expressed his regret at having to cancel the trip. He stated that without clear schedule certainty in the near-term, it was with a heavy heart that he made the decision to cancel.
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, discussed company efforts at their annual Milken Institute Global Conference in May. When asked about artificial intelligence’s role in space exploration, Musk stated that almost no AI is currently used in space exploration. While he mentioned he wasn’t against integrating AI into their operations, they hadn’t found any use for it yet.