Chinese Crypto Boss Heads for the Poles in a SpaceX Capsule #CriptoNews

A Dragon capsule is due to blast off from billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX Florida launch site on Monday with a Chinese crypto tycoon making a private attempt at the first human flight directly to orbit Earth’s North and South Poles.

Lift-off is set for 9.46 p.m. ET with several fall-back options including on Tuesday, April 1. The flight is due to take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on a unique path—and over regions that are closely watched due to rising geopolitical tensions. That includes the Arctic where Russia, China and the United States are jostling for influence.

With a four-person amateur crew on board, the “Fram2” mission is named after a 19th century Norwegian polar exploration ship, the Front. It plan is to whiz between the poles at about 27,000 kilometres per hour, or 16,777 miles per hour, observing 16 sunrises and sunsets, Norwegian crew member and cinematographer Jannicke Mikkelsen told Norway’s NRK media. Crew members will conduct experiments aimed at helping humans live long-term in space, according to the Fram2 mission and SpaceX.

Mission Commander is low-key, China-born Maltese citizen and cryptocurrency billionaire Chun Wang, whom Newsweek profiled earlier in March. Wang is also the funder of the flight. While its cost has not been made public, NASA has paid about $55 million per seat for flights on Dragon, according to media reports. Fram2 spokesperson Brian Bianco told Newsweek via email, “Like previous commercial space missions, Fram2 is a private transaction that will not be disclosed.”

On board alongside Wang and Mikkelsen, who is also Vehicle Commander, are German Vehicle Pilot and scientist Rabea Rogge, as well as Australian Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips.

In a statement linked on X, the social media site that is also owned by Musk, SpaceX said the crew would carry out “22 research studies designed to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration and understanding of human health in space.” These include taking the first X-ray in space and growing mushrooms in microgravity, studying the impact of space flight on the brain by conducting MRIs immediately upon return to earth, and an analysis of how female reproductive hormones are impacted by microgravity and space radiation.

“With the same pioneering spirit as early polar explorers, we aim to bring back new data and knowledge to advance the long-term goals of space exploration,” Wang said in a statement. “Much like Fridtjof Nansen, who led a groundbreaking logistical operation during his historic Front expedition in the 1800s, the science and research projects onboard will inform how we prepare for future missions, ultimately helping make space more accessible to us all,” he said, referring to the Norwegian polar explorer.

But missing from the most recent research list was the project that has drawn perhaps the closest attention from scientists and security experts: an investigation of a mysterious white aurora and associated fragments in the North Pole’s Northern Lights that have the ability to disrupt satellites. The project had attracted attention due to its “dual-use,” or mixed civilian and military, application, according to Arctic security experts who spoke to Newsweek. The project was included in an earlier launch announcement.

Katie Herlingshaw, an aurora scientist in Svalbard who is working with the crew, told Newsweek that the aurora investigation was going ahead.

“We will certainly be following here, we have a launch party planned and then we are right into monitoring. We have three people here on eight-hour shifts during the mission,” said Herlingshaw, a researcher in Upper Atmospheric Physics at the University Center in Svalbard.

“All I can say is that we are in full swing with the project and we have a group with many international scientists, Facebook aurora community leaders, and photographers who will help us with the real-time monitoring,” which will also be carried out on Earth in communication with the capsule, Herlingshaw told Newsweek.

Equipment that Mikkelsen, the cinematographer, will bring included an O2XR previs, a RED V-Raptor 8K, a Canon R5C, and a range of Canon rf lenses, Bianco said.

Wang has fans in the wild world of cryptocurrency—but also detractors. Mark Camilleri, an investigative journalist and cryptosleuth in Malta, has raised questions about Wang’s connections to Russia and China and whether he was serving their interests, in a series of articles where he also cited an online whistleblower, in the newspaper he edits, The Maltese Herald.

The special adviser to the Norwegian governor of the Svalbard Archipelago, where Wang has been registered, declined to comment on “possible or hypothetical security concerns regarding individuals,” in an earlier statement to Newsweek.

Update 3/31/25, 1 p.m. ET: This article was updated with further details.

Update 3/31/25, 2.20 p.m. ET: This article was updated with further details.