Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched a crew of four private astronauts on Monday for a groundbreaking journey around Earth. The mission follows a unique trajectory from pole to pole, something no humans have attempted before.

Leading the Mission: A Crypto Entrepreneur

Maltese investor Chun Wang, a Chinese-born businessman who founded a bitcoin mining company, funded and commanded the SpaceX mission, named Fram2. The name references the Norwegian ship “Fram,” which played a key role in Arctic exploration in the early 20th century.

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Wang and his three crew members lifted off aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule at 9:47 p.m. EDT on Monday (0147 GMT on Tuesday) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They embarked on a three-to-five-day free-flying mission focused on 22 research experiments. Most of these studies aim to examine how spaceflight and microgravity impact the human body.

A Grand Send-Off

On Monday afternoon, the crew traveled to the launchpad in a convoy of Tesla cars—produced by Musk’s other company—escorted by police through Cape Canaveral, Florida. During their drive, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched in an unrelated Starlink mission.

“We’re gonna watch a rocket launch while on our way to a rocket launch,” Wang wrote on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, posting a video of the Falcon 9 soaring into space.

SpaceX’s Expanding Role in Private Spaceflight

Fram2 marks SpaceX’s sixth private astronaut mission and reinforces its dominance in human spaceflight. As the world’s richest man and CEO of SpaceX, Musk wields significant influence, even advising U.S. President Donald Trump on various policy matters.

This mission is the 16th crewed flight using the reusable Crew Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX developed Dragon with NASA’s funding to provide transportation for astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Over the years, SpaceX and its Dragon capsule have led the private orbital spaceflight sector, once driven by wealthy tourists. While Boeing’s Starliner capsule remains stuck in development, Crew Dragon continues to operate regular missions.

The Cost and Changing Market of Space Travel

With a price tag of approximately $55 million per seat, Dragon flights have shifted away from space tourism. Instead, governments seeking national prestige and spaceflight experience now make up a significant portion of SpaceX’s clients. Companies like Axiom Space also contract Crew Dragon for their missions.

Fram2 Crew: Independent Explorers

Unlike previous missions backed by governments, the Fram2 team is entirely privately funded. Wang’s crew includes Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, who specializes in virtual-reality cinematography, German robotics researcher and polar scientist Rabea Rogge, and Australian adventurer Eric Philips, known for his extreme skiing expeditions in polar regions.

By embarking on this ambitious journey, the Fram2 team sets a new precedent for private space exploration, demonstrating the growing role of independent missions in the evolving space industry.