Key Highlights
- F2Pool co-founder Wang Chun will join SpaceX’s first human interplanetary Starship mission to Mars.
- The two-year mission will travel beyond the Earth-Moon system before flying by Mars and returning to Earth.
- Wang will first participate in a commercial circumlunar Starship mission alongside Dennis and Akiko Tito.
SpaceX has announced that Wang Chun, the Co-Founder of major Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool and commander of the Fram2 mission, will join the company’s first planned human interplanetary Starship mission to Mars.
According to SpaceX, the mission will become the first human spaceflight designed to travel beyond the Earth-Moon system, fly by Mars, and eventually return to Earth during a two-year journey through deep space.
The company confirmed the announcement through an official update shared on May 21, 2026. The reveal came during SpaceX’s webcast of the first launch attempt of the third-generation Starship V3 vehicle from Starbase in Texas. During a lull in the countdown, the SpaceX broadcast cut to a pre-recorded video interview with Wang, speaking from Bouvet Island, a rugged nature reserve in the South Atlantic Ocean often described as the world’s most remote island.
In his own words during the announcement, Wang said: “After we come back from Mars, we will have the opportunity to take some real photos, especially of Mars. Mars will no longer be a distant place. It will become reality.” He also said: “A lot of people talk about Mars. We like Mars, we’re gonna land on Mars.”
A circumlunar mission before Mars
Before the Mars mission begins, Wang Chun is also expected to participate in the first planned commercial Starship flight around the Moon alongside billionaire space tourists Dennis Tito and Akiko Tito.
SpaceX said the week-long circumlunar mission will pass within approximately 200 kilometers of the Moon’s surface and serve as a critical testing phase for Starship’s deep-space systems and long-duration mission capabilities.
“Starship will now expand that access further — to the Moon and Mars with two upcoming commercial human spaceflight missions,” SpaceX stated while announcing the missions. Importantly, SpaceX has not yet provided launch dates for either the lunar or the Mars mission. These are confirmed commitments, not imminent launches; and the Mars flyby in particular remains years away from operational readiness.
The company also highlighted its growing commercial astronaut program, noting that Dragon spacecraft missions have already transported 78 crewmembers from 20 countries across 20 separate missions since 2020, including seven commercial and private astronaut missions.
Crypto industry expands further into space exploration
Wang Chun’s participation marks another high-profile intersection between the cryptocurrency industry and private space exploration.
Just over nine months earlier, Tron Founder Justin Sun returned from a Blue Origin spaceflight mission, completing a 10-minute suborbital flight four years after winning his seat in a 2021 charity auction with a $28 million bid. He described the experience as transformative and emphasized the importance of protecting Earth after viewing the planet from space.
Together, Wang and Sun are the two most prominent crypto-industry figures to fly to space — though Wang’s missions are substantially more ambitious in scope. Sun’s flight was a 10-minute suborbital hop. Wang’s planned missions involve a week-long lunar flyby followed by a two-year deep-space Mars mission as commander.
SpaceX Bitcoin holdings continue drawing attention
The Mars mission news also comes shortly after fresh disclosures surrounding SpaceX’s Bitcoin treasury.
On May 20, 2026, SpaceX filed its Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, formally moving toward an initial public offering reportedly targeting a valuation of more than $1.5 trillion. The filing revealed the company holds 18,712 BTC as of March 31, 2026 — with a cost basis of approximately $661 million (an average purchase price of roughly $35,320 per coin), a fair value of $1.29 billion at end of Q1, and a market value of approximately $1.45 billion at current prices.
The disclosed figure is more than double previous third-party estimates: on-chain analytics firms Arkham Intelligence and BitcoinTreasuries.NET had attributed only approximately 8,285 BTC to SpaceX based on tracked addresses. The gap reflects what the filing describes as third-party custody arrangements — custodied holdings on a regulated custodian’s books don’t appear in on-chain tracking.
Starship missions could become major milestone
The upcoming Moon and Mars missions are expected to serve as major demonstrations for Starship’s long-duration spaceflight capabilities as SpaceX continues developing reusable deep-space transportation systems.
The company has increasingly positioned Starship as the foundation for future commercial, scientific, and interplanetary missions, with Mars exploration remaining one of Elon Musk’s long-term objectives.
For the crypto industry, Wang Chun’s involvement also symbolizes how early Bitcoin entrepreneurs are increasingly branching into frontier technologies beyond blockchain and digital finance, including aerospace, AI, and advanced infrastructure development.
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