The previously-announced 2023 launch date may push back substantially, however, as Starship has not yet been approved for an orbital journey around Earth, let alone a flight to the moon.The spaceship has been grounded for more than 18 months as SpaceX awaits approval from the Federal Aviation Administration regarding environmental assessment requirements at its Starbase launch location in South Texas.Related: SpaceX's Starship video animation is Tron meets Blade Runner in spaceRiding along with Maezawa will be:- Steve Aoki, D.J., producer and electronic dance music artist with several Billboard-charting studio albums;- Tim Dodd, YouTube creator of the "Everyday Astronaut" channel (Dodd has interviewed SpaceX founder Elon Musk multiple times on camera);- Yemi A.D., artist and choreographer known for his work with JAD Dance Company and with Ye (formerly Kanye West);- Karim Iliya, photographer whose publications include National Geographic Magazine;- Rhiannon Adam, a photographer who has been supported by the BBC/Royal Geographical Society and won multiple awards, according to their website (opens in new tab);- Brendan Hall, filmmaker on projects such as the two-hour documentary "Blood Sugar Rising" about diabetes in the United States, according to the Internet Movie Database (opens in new tab);- Dev Joshi, an "Indian television actor known for portraying the role of Baal Veer in Sony Sab's Baal Veer and Baalveer Returns," according to the Internet Movie Database (opens in new tab);- T.O.P., a South Korean rapper known as the lead for the boy band Big Bang;- Two backup members: dancer Miyu, and snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington.Maezawa's dearMoon project was announced in 2018 to bring astronauts to the moon, following a controversial "girlfriend contest" for a now-defunct space mission.In December of that year, the Japanese billionaire flew to the International Space Station on a short stint along with his his videographer, Yozo Hirano, and different Russian cosmonauts on a Soyuz spacecraft during launch and landing."