Former BIGBANG Member T.O.P’s SpaceX Mission Postponed Until Further Notice

In December 2022, it was reported that K-Pop idol and former BIGBANG member T.O.P would be among the eight influential people to participate in the “Dear Moon” project.

The participants of the “Dear Moon” project

The project, spearheaded by billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and Elon Musk‘s SpaceX program, was planned to be the first civilian mission to the Moon with its participants selected based on talented and influential people across the globe that could positively contribute to the human race.

This is the #DearMoon project details…wow it’s a week long journey to the moon and back!

TOP, I love you to the moon and back!

https://t.co/umBknYoa6a pic.twitter.com/gc48IZxjAs

— baebaevip Still Life (@baebaevip5) December 6, 2022

While the mission was supposed to take place in 2023, however, it seems to have met a roadblock that will postpone the trip for an indefinite time.

BIGBANG TOP (Choi Seung-hyun) expressed his excitement about the space travel project ‘Dear Moon’ (#dearMoon).

On the 21st, T.O.P shared a composite photo of his boarding pass for the “Dear moon” project made by his fan on his Instagram story. #ChoiSeunghyun #TTTOP #BIGBANG pic.twitter.com/AEJyGykFg6

— QUEEN & BIGBANG (@QueenVIPam) February 22, 2023

On October 1, a media outlet made the report about “Dear Moon” being postponed. While the exact details are unknown, Kim Sung Soo, a professor of space exploration at Kyunghee University, had this to say about why the trip had to be delayed until further notice.

The ‘Dear Moon’ project is the first civilian project that aims to fly them to the moon. The spacecraft Starship, developed by SpaceX, is expected to fly around the moon for about six days and the original plan was to proceed with this project this year. We already completed a contract with a Japanese shopping mall businessman to have a rocket called Starship circle the moon once. According to the original plan, we should already be there by now. However, because SpaceX’s development of Starship became delayed, [the mission] will likely not be possible to [proceed] this year, and will be possible in a few more years.

— Kim Sung Soo (Kyunghee University)

T.O.P | YG Entertainment

While it’s unfortunate that the trip had to be postponed, it sounds like the “Dear Moon” project is still planned to happen in the future, and hopefully T.O.P will still be able to participate!