SpaceX Mission Funded by Crypto Investor Launches First Crewed Polar Orbit
The crew includes crypto entrepreneur Chun Wang, founder of the Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool, who also funded the flight.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched the first manned space mission to orbit Earth’s poles, with a crew of four private astronauts. The mission, funded and led by wealthy crypto investor Chun Wang, marks a historic flight.
Wang, the Chinese-born Maltese entrepreneur and founder of the Bitcoin (BTC) mining pool F2Pool, is financing and leading the "Fram2" mission. The name is inspired by a 19th-century Norwegian Arctic exploration ship.
Wang and his crew took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:46 am UTC on April 1. The mission, which is expected to last three to five days, will be the first human space flight to pass over both the North and South poles.
Chun Wang has not revealed the exact amount he paid SpaceX for the mission, but he brought along a diverse team, including German polar scientist Rabea Rogge, Norwegian cinematographer Jannicke Mikkelsen, and Australian Arctic adventurer Eric Philips.
SpaceX announced that the crew will conduct 22 experiments during the flight. These include groundbreaking activities such as taking the first X-ray in space and growing mushrooms. The experiments are aimed at gathering valuable data on human health in space and understanding the effects of long-duration space missions.
Chun Wang (right) onboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule with Jannicke Mikkelsen (center-right), Rabea Rogge (center-left) and Eric Philips (left). Source: SpaceX
Chun Wang, originally from China, became a citizen of Malta in 2023. He founded F2Pool in 2013, one of China's first Bitcoin mining pools, which has grown to become the fourth-largest mining pool globally, with a market share just under 10%, according to mempool.space.
In 2018, Wang also established Stakefish, an Ethereum staking pool provider. According to Beaconchain data, Stakefish is currently the eighth-largest Ethereum staking pool, with approximately 2,025 validators.
After launching from Florida, Wang and his crew reached the South Pole in less than 30 minutes, flying at an altitude of about 265 miles (430 kilometers) above Earth. The crew is expected to complete a full orbit of the globe roughly every 90 minutes.
Upon completion of the mission, the SpaceX Dragon capsule is set to splash down off the coast of California, marking the company's first such mission.
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