Technical Details
SpaceX recently revealed details of an ambitious plan for a private interplanetary flight during a live broadcast of the Starship V3 launch preparation. Despite the launch being canceled due to a technical issue with the ground infrastructure, the company introduced the mission participant, cryptocurrency billionaire and private astronaut Chuen Wan.
Context and Background
During the live broadcast, SpaceX showed a video of Wan, who is on the island of Bouvet in the South Atlantic, talking about his participation in the mission. According to him, he plans to fly around the Moon and Mars on board the Starship, although the company has not yet disclosed the exact launch dates. If the project is implemented, it could become the first private interplanetary mission in space history.
Industry Impact
Chuen Wan is known as the co-founder of F2Pool, one of the first major Bitcoin mining pools in China. He later invested his cryptocurrency earnings in commercial space flights and describes himself as a 'full-time traveler'. He has already flown to space as part of the SpaceX-organized Fram2 mission, where he was both a participant and a financial sponsor. He, along with three other civilian astronauts, completed a three-day orbital flight on the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The new mission, according to spacepolicyonline, is expected to be significantly longer, lasting around two years in both directions. Wan himself noted that he does not experience anxiety about the duration of the flight, comparing it to the ability to observe the route map during air travel. In parallel with the revelation of the plans, SpaceX continues to work on the Starship V3, the most powerful rocket complex in the company's history. This version is important for both commercial interplanetary missions and NASA's program to return humans to the Moon.