SpaceX Launches Private Mission With 4 Civilians On First-Ever Polar Orbit

SpaceX launched its latest private mission, Fram2, this Monday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket to orbit Earth over the North and South poles for the first time.

According to CNN, the crew in the Dragon capsule is led by the crypto millionaire Chun Wang and his three guests, the robotics researcher Rabea Rogge, the Norwegian film director Jannicke Mikkelsen, and adventurer Eric Philips.

Liftoff of Fram2 and the @framonauts! pic.twitter.com/XBL5juCnHQ

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 1, 2025

The rocket was launched from SpaceX’s base at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in the United States, on Monday at 9:46 p.m. The trip will take from 3 to 5 days through an unusual orbital path headed south.

After completing the mission and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, the civilian crew will become the first humans to orbit Earth over both poles. None of the members have traveled to space before.

“We have an untraditional mission,” said Mikkelsen on Friday. “We’re not your typical NASA astronauts…We’ve gone from nothing to being certified astronauts to fly.”

The group started training last year, including “harsh environments” in Alaska, to prepare for the trip. Besides exploring Earth from the polar orbit, the crew will conduct 22 experiments for research, most of which are related to their health.

Dragon has separated from Falcon 9’s second stage pic.twitter.com/v6tv0PWZMa

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 1, 2025

Mission Commander Wang founded the organization F2Pool, one of the largest cryptocurrency mining pools in the world. The entrepreneur’s net worth is expected to be billions of dollars. The amount of money he paid for this trip has not been disclosed.

SpaceX has been working on multiple missions recently, including its Starship rockets, which it plans to use for missions aimed at repopulating Mars. Although the company has achieved historic milestones—such as landing and catching the Super Heavy booster on the launch tower—it has also faced some setbacks. In January, one of the Starship rockets exploded and caught fire during ascent.