Crypto Magnate Purchases Private SpaceX Expedition

Private polar expeditions are reaching a new level: Space.

Cryptocurrency speculator Chun Wang bought a SpaceX multi-day flight for an undisclosed amount, the company announced on Monday, with plans to lead the first crewed space mission in polar orbit, flying end-to-end over the Earth.

Called “Fram2,” an ode to the 19th-century polar expedition ship Fram, the mission is scheduled to launch near the end of this year. It will fly on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and use its thrice-flown Dragon capsule named Endurance — an apt coincidence, as a NASA crew three years ago named the spacecraft after explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s famed ship.

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