Chun Wang, a co-founder of the Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool, has drawn up plans for a crewed Starship flyby of Mars that would take place before SpaceX itself attempts to land humans on the planet. The project, if realized, would mark one of the most ambitious privately funded space missions ever proposed — a billionaire-backed shortcut to the Red Planet that bypasses the landing phase entirely.
Who is Chun Wang
Wang is best known as a co-founder of F2Pool, one of the largest and longest-running Bitcoin mining pools globally. The group mines blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain, earning rewards in cryptocurrency. Until now, Wang's public profile has been tied entirely to the crypto sector, not spaceflight. His Mars flyby plan represents a dramatic shift from digital currency to deep-space exploration. No other business or space ventures involving Wang have been disclosed.
The Starship and the Mars Timeline
SpaceX has been developing Starship as a fully reusable spacecraft designed to carry large numbers of people and cargo to the Moon and Mars. The company has said it intends to land humans on Mars, but has not yet attempted any Mars mission — crewed or robotic. Elon Musk has repeatedly set ambitious timelines for a human landing, but those dates have slipped. Wang's plan would insert a flyby mission before that landing, using the same Starship vehicle. A flyby would send a crew looping around Mars and back to Earth without entering orbit or touching the surface. That profile reduces some technical risks, but still demands a spacecraft capable of supporting humans for months in deep space.
Technical and Financial Hurdles
A crewed Mars flyby requires life-support systems that can operate for at least a year, robust radiation shielding against cosmic rays and solar flares, and a reliable propulsion system for course corrections. Starship is still in the test-flight phase; the vehicle has yet to reach orbit, perform a long-duration burn, or demonstrate any of the systems needed for interplanetary travel. Wang has not disclosed the mission's cost, whether he has secured a Starship from SpaceX, or what his timeline looks like. Private missions of this scale typically cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and SpaceX has not announced any program to lease Starships to private individuals for Mars missions.
What Comes Next
SpaceX has not publicly commented on Wang's plan. The company may eventually offer Starship for private charters — it has already signed contracts for civilian orbital flights and a private Moon loop — but a Mars flyby is an order of magnitude more complex. For now, Wang's proposal adds a new variable to the already uncertain race to reach the Red Planet. Whether SpaceX will allow a private flyby before its own landing attempts remains an open question, and one that may depend on how quickly Starship matures.
