SpaceX has conducted the world’s first crewed flight with an orbit that passes over both poles of the Earth. This mission was funded by Chun Wang, co-founder of the renowned bitcoin pool F2Pool, which is among the largest in the world.
This is reported by Business • Media
The spacecraft is named after the 19th-century Norwegian polar ship – Fram2, which explored the Arctic. The launch took place on April 1, 2025, from a launch site in Florida. On board, along with Wang, are German scientist Rabea Rogge, Norwegian operator Jannike Mikkelsen, and Australian researcher Eric Phillips.
Mission Characteristics
The flight will last between three to five days, during which the crew will conduct 22 scientific experiments, including the first-ever X-ray photograph in space. It is important to note that all mission participants have no prior experience in spaceflight, as there are no professional astronauts among them.
F2Pool ranks fourth among all bitcoin pools, controlling about 10% of the global hash rate of the network (85.63 EH/s), according to data from the portal mempool.space. In addition to this company, Wang is also the founder of the Ethereum validator Stakefish, which is among the top 10 largest staking pools. The entrepreneur, born in China, obtained Maltese citizenship in 2023.
Mission Finale
After the launch of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, the crew reached the South Pole in less than 30 minutes, traveling in an orbit at an altitude of 430 kilometers. A complete orbit around the planet takes about 90 minutes. Upon mission completion, the Dragon capsule will splash down off the coast of California, concluding the first private crewed polar expedition.
“We are very excited about this mission and hope for its successful completion,” Wang stated.