SPACEX plans to launch its sixth commercial crewed mission to orbit as soon as late 2024, sending a four-person team of civilian astronauts to fly over the polar regions of the Earth.
Called Fram2, the mission will be the first human spaceflight mission to fly over Earth’s poles, SpaceX said on its website on Monday (Aug 12).
SpaceX said the mission is to be commanded by a person named Chun Wang, who the company described as an entrepreneur and adventurer from Malta. He will be joined by a multinational crew, including fliers from Norway, Australia, and Germany, SpaceX said.
Since launching its first two-person crew of astronauts to space in 2020, the Elon Musk-led company has conducted 13 human spaceflight missions. Those include nine crewed missions for Nasa and four commercial missions. The company is slated to launch its next commercial flight as soon as Aug 26, a mission called Polaris Dawn that is slated to perform the first private spacewalk.
The Fram2 mission is set to last three to five days, according to SpaceX. The crew plans to observe Earth’s poles from SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, as well as conduct a variety of research experiments. BLOOMBERG
