Four space tourists launched by SpaceX entered Earth’s polar orbit on Wednesday, the first time humans have circled the planet over the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
The crew were launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from a California spaceport on Tuesday and are set to spend three to five days aboard a free-flying Dragon capsule orbiting the planet’s remote high-latitude zones on the Fram2 mission.
They will carry out 22 human health experiments in microgravity, including taking the first X-ray in space, and attempt to grow mushrooms.
The mission is another of SpaceX’s commercial space missions that are redefining who can access orbit beyond government-trained astronauts.
Mission commander Chun Wang, a Maltese entrepreneur originally from China, has funded the mission and led the planning and design of Fram2.
Overcoming motion sickness
“The ride to orbit was much smoother than I had anticipated,” Mr Wang wrote on X on Wednesday.
“The first few hours in microgravity weren’t exactly comfortable. Space motion sickness hit all of us – we felt nauseous and ended up vomiting a couple of times. It felt different from motion sickness in a car or at sea.
“You could still read on your iPad without making it worse. But even a small sip of water could upset your stomach and trigger vomiting.”
Mr Wang selected the crew for the flight: Jannicke Mikkelsen, a cinematographer and explorer from Norway, Australian polar guide Eric Philips and German-based adventurer Rabea Rogge.
“By the second morning, I felt completely refreshed,” Mr Wang added. “The trace of motion sickness is all gone. We had breakfast, took a few X-ray images, and opened the cupola three minutes after midnight UTC – right above the South Pole.”
The crew was flying 460km above Antarctica by Wednesday afternoon, when Mr Wang posted a video of the striking scenery. “Hello, Antarctica. Unlike previously anticipated, from 460km above, it is only pure white, no human activity is visible,” he said.
Satellites often use polar orbits because they pass over almost every part of the Earth, making them ideal for collecting global data, especially for environmental monitoring. But it requires more fuel for humans to fly this orbit.
Fram2’s Dragon capsule was placed in polar orbit at an altitude of between 425km and 450km, allowing the crew to observe phenomena that are not typically visible from equatorial orbits, such as aurora-like light emissions over the poles.
It is the sixth private orbital mission launched by SpaceX. A previous one, Polaris Dawn, included the first spacewalk by a space tourist. Jared Isaacman, who has been tapped by President Donald Trump to be the next Nasa administrator, led that mission.
Pushing boundaries
Anna Hazlett, founder of Dubai space advisory firm AzurX, said Fram2 is “pushing the boundaries” of the kind of spaceflights private crews can embark on.
“Flying a private crew to Earth’s polar region for the first time not only expands operational experience in extreme environments but also lays the groundwork for future missions involving polar orbital research, Earth observation and even potential deep-space operations,” she told The National.
“This demonstrates how commercial space capabilities continue to evolve, opening new ways for exploration and scientific collaboration.”
Sahith Madara, an aerospace engineer and founder of the advisory firm Bumi & Space, told The National that the mission was a “turning point for space research”.
“Fram2 feels like the space version of that moment Airbnb let you sleep in a castle or a treehouse – except now it’s orbiting Earth via the poles in a SpaceX capsule,” he said. “The fact that a roboticist, a crypto guy and explorer, a doctor and a filmmaker are circling Earth’s poles right now sends a pretty loud message: space is opening up to all.
“It's becoming a sandbox for storytellers, tinkerers and yes, still, the science nerds. And honestly, the view from the top might be just what we need to remind us how small and yet collaborative this whole thing really is.”
Fram2 is named after the Norwegian ship Fram, which was used in Arctic and Antarctic expeditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
