Chun Wang, the Chinese-born Maltese entrepreneur who founded Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool, has purchased a ticket for SpaceX's first planned interplanetary mission to Mars. SpaceX announced the two-year-long mission Thursday, which will explore beyond the moon, fly by Mars, and return to Earth. Wang posted about the purchase on X Friday, stating his belief that Mars exploration will not happen within the current generation without private investment. Wang has also bought a ticket for a planned weeklong commercial spaceflight around the moon that will launch before the Mars mission.
Wang's Rationale for Mars Investment
"I believe that even without private investment in lunar flights, we will still reach the Moon, and likely very soon. As competition between the United States and China intensifies, governments will turn lunar bases into reality," Wang said in his Friday X post.
"And I am happy to sit back and watch that happen. On the other hand, I have no confidence that Mars will still happen within our lifetime. And I think I should do something about that. I hope that by purchasing a flyby mission to Mars, SpaceX will have another reason not to forget about Mars. Because we seriously shouldn't defer Mars to our next generation," he added.
Wang emphasized the importance of demonstrating Mars' viability: "I hope this mission can show the public that Mars is not just a point of light in a telescope. It is a real place, and humans can fly there and come back alive and come back healthy."
F2Pool Background
Wang founded F2Pool in 2013, establishing one of China's first Bitcoin mining pools. The pool currently ranks as the third largest, with a market share of over 11.85%, according to mempool.space.
Prior Space Venture
Last April, Wang bankrolled and commanded the "Fram2" mission, another SpaceX venture that flew over the Earth's poles and carried out experiments including taking an X-ray in space and growing mushrooms. The four-person crew included German polar scientist Rabea Rogge, Norwegian cinematographer Jannicke Mikkelsen, and Australian Arctic adventurer Eric Philips.
Mars Mission Timeline
Starship cargo flights to Mars for research, development, and exploratory missions are expected to start no earlier than 2028, according to SpaceX. The ultimate goal is to establish a self-sufficient city on Mars, which SpaceX estimates will require more than 1 million people and millions of tons of cargo.
Growing Trend of Entrepreneur Space Investment
A growing number of tech entrepreneurs have started funding and taking part in trips to space, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Virgin Group co-founder Richard Branson, and Jared Isaacman, founder of payment processing company Shift4 Payments.
