On June 1st, the dearMoon project announced on their official account, “It is unfortunate to be announcing that ‘dearMoon’, the first private circum-lunar flight project, will be canceled. We thank everyone who has supported us and apologize to those who have looked forward to this project.”
T.O.P, who participated as a crew member of the project, also shared on his personal account, “As you may have heard, the ‘dearMoon’ project has unfortunately been canceled. However, I am deeply grateful to Mr. Yusaku Maezawa for conceptualizing the ‘dearMoon’ project.“
He emphasized, “This was the greatest and most beautiful art project for the development of mankind that no one in the world would have dared to imagine, and the courage to even attempt this mission was truly extraordinary to witness. My dream is by no means over.”
He continued, “Being selected as a ‘dearMoon’ crew member was one of the greatest honors of my life. My heart is full of gratitude for the experiences I gained and the friendships I made through this process. Over the last few years since joining ‘dearMoon’, I feel that my body and soul have forged a deep, direct connection with the moon. My body and soul connected with the moon and space has already inspired me to compose a lot of new music. The moon has and will continue to nourish my soul and fill me up with meaning and inspiration forever.”
Lastly, T.O.P said, “My dream to travel to the moon is not over. It has become the ultimate and greatest goal of my life, an official challenge, and a core mission for my life. I feel deep responsibility for all the people who cheered for and supported me through this process to make them proud.”
Previously, in 2022, T.O.P announced his participation in the dearMoon project, a lunar tourism project by SpaceX, founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The project aimed to be the first private circum-lunar flight with eight crew members, including T.O.P. They were scheduled to fly around the lunar orbit for about a week aboard a spacecraft developed by SpaceX.
However, in November last year, the dearMoon project announced that “the launch, initially aimed for late 2023, will not happen this year due to ongoing spacecraft development“, and after about six months, they reported the project’s cancellation.
