F2Pool Founder Books SpaceX Flight for an Unforgettable Polar Expedition

Key Takeaways: 

• Bitcoin mogul Chun Wang funded a SpaceX polar expedition.
• Wang's team of four will spend a few days in space, observing the polar regions from a unique perspective.
• Wang's crew has made history as the first humans to fly over Earth's polar regions.

Chun Wang, co-founder of the Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool, secured a SpaceX flight to send a crew on a mission over both the North and South Poles. The launch, which took place from Florida, marked the first all-private polar mission, opening a new chapter in human space exploration.

Chun Wang’s Crew Will Spend Five Days in Space

Wang’s crew includes an international team of space pioneers: Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robotics researcher Rabea Rogge, and Australian polar guide Eric Phillips.

This diverse group will spend between three and five days in space, embarking on a journey that will push the boundaries of human space exploration and offer a unique opportunity to observe the polar regions from space. 

L-2h05m

Side hatch closed. We are go for launch. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/EGcvYFRKVx

— Chun (@satofishi) March 31, 2025

The Bitcoin mining pool co-founder fully funded the mission, though the exact cost remains undisclosed. A seat on SpaceX's reusable Dragon spacecraft costs approximately $55 million (£42 million).Retry

The mission’s primary goal is to conduct scientific experiments, capture stunning visual data, and showcase the growing potential of private space travel.

The crew’s journey begins with a SpaceX Falcon rocket lifting off from Florida. The rocket heads south over the Atlantic on a path rarely seen in over six decades of space exploration. The first leg of the flight, taking them from Florida to the South Pole, lasts about 30 minutes. 

Once in space, the crew boarded a fully automated Dragon spacecraft, which orbits Earth at an altitude of approximately 270 miles (430 kilometers). 

Each orbit will take around 90 minutes, with the spacecraft traveling pole-to-pole. This will allow the crew to witness a unique perspective of our planet's icy poles in a way that has never been done before.

The Polar Mission that Rewrites Space Exploration’s Limits

Until now, no space traveler had gone beyond 65 degrees north and south latitude. This milestone was set by Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, in 1963. 

Other space pioneers, such as Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space and NASA astronauts in the 1990s, had come close, but none had reached true polar orbits. 

Wang’s SpaceX flight breaks these bounds, taking humanity into a new realm of space travel that was previously uncharted.

Watch Falcon 9 launch Fram2 and the @framonauts, the first humans to fly over the Earth’s polar regions → https://t.co/vSt6tffjPe https://t.co/P4tpoG5vKl

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 1, 2025

A polar orbit is highly valuable for several scientific and surveillance purposes. It is ideal for Earth-observing satellites, including those used for climate research and Earth mapping. 

In this orbit, a spacecraft can pass over every part of the Earth as the planet rotates below. This makes polar orbits incredibly efficient for collecting data on the planet’s changing environment.