Chun Wang, the Chinese-born Maltese-Kittian crypto investor who co-founded F2Pool, has been named mission commander for SpaceX’s first commercial interplanetary human spaceflight mission to Mars, crucial to Elon Musk’s plans to send a million people to the Red Planet.
Wang, whose mining pool controls approximately 11.3% of the Bitcoin network’s global hashrate and whose personal Bitcoin assets are estimated at more than $300 million, will take a two-year leave of absence from his current role in securing digital ledgers to lead humanity’s next frontier into deep space.
SpaceX’s announcement comes as company owner Elon Musk’s aggressive plans to colonize the Red Planet and establish a multi-planetary civilization continue to accelerate.
A two-year journey into the unknown
This ambitious, multiphase timeline will take Wang on a week-long circumlunar flyby approximately 125 miles from the moon’s surface alongside Dennis and Akiko Tito before embarking on the historic Martian trajectory.
Target launch windows are currently driving technical preparations for a planned departure in 2026. Once launched, the crew will spend two consecutive years in space. The deep space itinerary includes a comprehensive external exploration of the Earth-Moon system, a high-altitude flyby of Mars, and a complex return trajectory to Earth.
Navigating the Risks of Deep Space
Operating in deep space for 24 months presents serious operational risks, including significant hardware fatigue and the volatile thermodynamics of managing cryogenic fuel during extended coasts in deep space.
To mitigate these dangers, SpaceX is launching its next-generation Starship V3 architecture. The upgraded vehicle includes vacuum collector feedlines, high-voltage cryogenic recirculation systems, and 60 integrated custom avionics units capable of handling distributed fault isolation at up to 9 MW of peak power.
The crew will encounter acute biomedical hazards while collecting critical diagnostic telemetry. A key task for Wang’s team is to perform advanced behavioral health tracking and capture the first-ever human x-ray images in microgravity to assess long-term physiological deterioration.
The path to a multiplanetary future
Wang’s mission is designed to provide crucial operational data needed to transition Mars exploration from near-term novelties to permanent, self-sustaining habitats.
The data team is expected to return to Earth, which will directly test the Starship’s autonomous navigation array, deep space radiation shielding, and in-space propellant transfer mechanisms.
The SpaceX team’s findings will be critical to achieving Musk’s ultimate goal: verifying the rapid reuse of vehicles and validating the logistical foundation required to safely transport millions of tons of cargo and, ultimately, a million citizens to the Martian surface.
The announcement of the trip to Mars comes as SpaceX, the space satellite and rocket company, confidentially filed its public offering targeting a valuation above $1.75 trillion, the largest in history. This also comes as Musk’s company officially revealed, for the first time, its Bitcoin holdings, totaling 8,285 BTC.
