SpaceX has undeniably been successful in many ways as it has set many records such as launching the most powerful rocket in history, but it has its flaws too, such as facing several delays with its missions. This inconvenience even caused a billionaire to cancel his flyby mission because of the uncertainty.
Yusaku Maezawa Cancels Moon Flyby
The Japanese billionaire has been planning his mission called "dearMoon" since 2018 and was intent on finally flying by for years. However, it seems that Maezawa has grown tired of the continuous delays that SpaceX has been experiencing with the Starship rocket.
He signed the contract with SpaceX expecting that the rocket would be ready for a crewed mission by the end of 2023. Obviously, that has not been the case with SpaceX's failed launches. Maezawa mentioned on X that it's still uncertain when the Starship can launch.
The initial test was launched back in April 2023, wherein the rocket never reached space. The second one followed in the same year in November, and while it reached farther than the previous test, it also failed to reach space.
The first time it did was with the third Starship flight test, which was conducted this year on March 14th. It's certainly a huge progress for SpaceX as it achieved orbital velocity, but the Starship and its Super Heavy booster failed to reach the splashdown points.
As mentioned in Interesting Engineering, the Japanese entrepreneur apologized saying that he couldn't plan his future with such uncertainty and that he felt terrible for the crew members that have been waiting for a while.
Maezawa had already purchased seats for eight more people back in 2022 for the dearMoon project. In fact, it's not the only mission relying on the successful launch of the Starship rocket, as NASA is also partnering with SpaceX for the Artemis mission.
NASA x SpaceX for the Artemis Mission
The Artemis' main mission is to place humans back on the Moon, and NASA is working alongside SpaceX to make that happen. The latter is working on a human landing system that will put astronauts on the Moon's surface.
Astronauts will specifically land on the Moon's South Pole during the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions. The campaign will land the first woman, the first woman of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, as per NASA.
HLS Program Manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Lisa Watson-Morgan said: "With each flight test, SpaceX attempts increasingly ambitious objectives for Starship to learn as much as possible for future mission systems development."
She added that the ability to test key systems and processes in flight scenarios like these integrated tests allows both NASA and SpaceX to gather crucial data needed for the continued development of Starship HLS.
Ultimately, this will contribute to the advancement of NASA's goal to build Moon bases, which can further research and science in the process. While delays are slowing the progress of the project, it is still considered progress nonetheless.
