SpaceX launched its next private human spaceflight mission, Fram2, from Florida on Monday evening. The mission, featuring a collection of civilian scientists, entrepreneurs, and explorers flying onboard Crew Dragon Resilience, is the first-ever human spaceflight mission to fly to a polar orbit.
Liftoff of Falcon 9 and Resilience occurred on Monday, March 31, at 9:46 PM EDT (01:46 UTC on April 1) from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following launch, Falcon 9’s first stage booster returned to Earth and landed atop SpaceX’s autonomous droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. With an on-time launch, Fram2 became the 67th orbital launch attempt worldwide in 2025 and SpaceX’s 37th mission of the year.
Fram2’s crew and mission
Upon orbital insertion, the crew of Fram2 became the first humans to have ever entered polar orbit and the first humans to view Earth’s poles from space. Before Fram2, the Soviet Voskhod 2 mission in March 1965 marked the closest humans have traveled to a polar orbit, with the Voskhod 3KD capsule being inserted into a 64.8-degree inclination orbit. Falcon 9 inserted Resilience and Fram2 into an orbit inclined 90 degrees.
All four crew members flew to space for the first time. Fram2’s mission commander is Chun Wang, a Maltese entrepreneur and adventurer who is funding the mission. Wang is a cryptocurrency investor and co-founded the Bitcoin mining pools F2Pool and Stakefish.
The vehicle commander is Jannicke Mikkelsen, a Norwegian film director and cinematographer. Mikkelsen specializes in fringe technology for filming in harsh, hazardous environments like Earth’s poles. She is expected to utilize her skills on the mission to capture unique shots of Earth’s poles. Mikkelsen also participated in the record-breaking polar circumnavigation mission One More Orbit in 2019. Mikkelsen’s position as vehicle commander on Fram2 makes her the first European astronaut to command a spacecraft.
The Fram2 crew. From left to right: Wang, Rogge, Mikkelsen, and Philips. (Credit: SpaceX)
Serving as Fram2’s pilot is German robotics engineer Rabea Rogge. Born in Berlin, Rogge holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering and is currently pursuing a PhD in Norway. As a member of the Swiss Academic Spaceflight Initiative (ARIS), Rogge has led the development of a satellite mission to low-Earth orbit and robotic ocean missions in the Arctic. Rogge became the first female German astronaut when she launched on Resilience.
Fram2’s mission specialist and medical officer is Eric Philips, an Australian polar explorer and guide who has successfully performed several polar expeditions in both the North and South Poles. Philips has earned international recognition for his expeditions and co-foundings of the International Polar Guides Association and Polar Expeditions Classification Scheme.
All four crew members have extensive exploration experience in Earth’s polar regions and bring different skills and expertise to achieve Fram2’s mission objectives. The crew will conduct 22 science and research experiments during the four-day mission.
Among these experiments is the SpaceXray study, which will involve taking the first X-rays of humans from space. The Egress study will evaluate the astronauts’ ability to perform unassisted functional tasks when exiting Dragon following landing. The Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) study will investigate BFR during exercise, allowing for improved bone and muscle health exercises for long-duration space missions.
The Fram2 crew strapped into Resilience during their dress rehearsal on March 30. (Credit: SpaceX)
The “MushVroom” mission will see the first mushrooms grown in space. A sleep study will be performed using Oura Rings to learn more about astronaut sleep quality in orbit. A Hyperfine MRI device will be used to immediately image the astronauts’ brains upon return to Earth to investigate how microgravity affects brain anatomy.
A continuous glucose monitor will monitor glucose regulation in microgravity as part of a study to better understand how SpaceX can provide for future diabetic astronauts. The novel Hormona test and app will be used in a women’s health study to investigate how women’s reproductive hormones are affected by exposure to microgravity. The Space THAL study will research blood health in microgravity, focusing on anemia and its effects on future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.
Lastly, a motion sickness study will characterize and quantify motion sickness in astronauts, and a bone health study will determine changes to bone microstructures using advanced imaging. These changes in bone microstructures often lead to bone loss — a significant challenge astronauts face during long-duration missions in space.
Rollout and vertical ✅
Dry dress rehearsal ✅
Static fire ✅ pic.twitter.com/Ntzp99twOh— Chun (@satofishi) March 30, 2025
These experiments and studies are only a small part of the entire suite of research experiments the crew will perform during their mission. Extensive imagery and video of Earth’s poles are also expected, with observations of auroral phenomena like the Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE) planned.
Fram2’s name references the Norwegian polar exploration ship Fram, which was used in several North and South Pole expeditions between 1893 and 1912. Fram2 will carry an original piece of Fram’s teak deck. Earth recently passed its Vernal Equinox, meaning the South Pole will be shrouded in darkness from orbit.
Fram2’s launch
Crew Dragon C207 Resilience is supporting Fram2 and its all-civilian crew during their mission. Fram2 marks Resilience’s fourth flight to orbit, having previously flown the NASA Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and the private Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn missions. Polaris Dawn landed on Sept. 10, 2024, giving Resilience a turnaround time of 197 days.
The second operational Crew Dragon capsule after Crew Dragon C206 Endeavour, Resilience first flew to space in November 2020 for the Crew-1 mission. As is tradition with all Crew Dragon spacecraft, the first crew to fly in a capsule name it, with the crew of Crew-1 giving Resilience its name. After returning from the ISS, SpaceX modified Resilience for the first private, all-civilian human spaceflight mission, Inspriation4, by replacing its docking port with a domed glass “cupola.”
Resilience ahead of the launch of Fram2. (Credit: SpaceX)
Resilience was modified again for the Polaris Dawn mission, during which the first extravehicular activity (EVA) from a Dragon was completed. Without an airlock built into the spacecraft, SpaceX removed the cupola and motorized the forward hatch for easy opening and closing during the EVAs. Furthermore, Resilience was equipped with laser interlink communication technologies for use with SpaceX’s Starlink internet constellation.
For Fram2, Resilience will be sporting the glass cupola and the Starlink laser interlink technology, giving the crew internet access from space and low-latency communications with teams on Earth.
The Falcon 9 first-stage booster supporting the mission was B1085, making its sixth flight to space. B1085 previously supported the launch of the Blue Ghost Mission 1, HAKUTO-R M2, GPS III-7, Starlink Group 6-77, NASA Crew-9, and Starlink Group 10-5 missions. Following launch and stage separation, B1085 landed atop A Shortfall of Gravitas, one of SpaceX’s two autonomous droneships on the east coast. A Shortfall of Gravitas will be stationed several hundred kilometers south of the Kennedy Space Center in the Atlantic.
The Fram2 crew arrived in Florida the week before launch and entered quarantine activities shortly after. On March 30, the crew and SpaceX teams completed a full dress rehearsal of launch day activities, ultimately culminating in the successful static fire of Falcon 9 (with no crew onboard). Following the rehearsal and static fire, Falcon 9 and Resilience were prepared for launch.
Falcon 9 and Resilience are rolled to LC-39A ahead of Fram2. (Credit: SpaceX)
The crew arrived at Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) several hours before launch, where they donned their white pressure suites in the Falcon Support Building located adjacent to the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) at the pad. Following suit up, the crew drove up the LC-39A concrete ramp to Falcon 9.
The crew then scales the black Fixed Service Structure (FSS) tower to the side of Falcon 9. The crew made final calls to friends and families on the FSS before walking across the crew access arm that connects the FSS to Resilience’s side hatch. Once at the end of the arm and within the “white room,” the crew signed the white room wall and began capsule ingress procedures.
Hatch closure occurred before T-2 hours, and pad closeout crews left LC-39A shortly after. At T-45:00 minutes, the SpaceX Launch Director verified that Falcon 9 was “go” for propellant load. Falcon 9 utilizes super-chilled cryogenic rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX) propellants, and to avoid the propellants boiling off within its tanks, SpaceX elects to load propellant in the last minutes of the launch countdown.
Following the “go” for propellant load, the crew access arm was retracted away from Dragon at T-42:00 minutes. Then, at T-39:00 minutes, Resilience’s launch escape system was armed. At this point in the countdown, if an emergency that prevented crew egress were to occur, Resilience’s launch escape system would be activated, safely flying the crew away from the pad.
The @framonauts (Framily) making history as the first crew to launch towards Earth’s polar regions – Dragon Resilience and her crew are safe in orbit. @satofishi, @astro_jannicke, @rprogge, and @Icetrek – enjoy the ride!
📸 – @NASASpaceflight pic.twitter.com/ofMYtMWtiY
— Max Evans (@_mgde_) April 1, 2025
At T-35:00 minutes, RP-1 propellant load began on both Falcon 9 stages, and first-stage LOX loading began. At T-16:00 minutes, second-stage LOX loading began.
Engine chill on the nine first-stage Merlin engines was initiated at T-07:00 minutes, during which small amounts of the cryogenic propellants flowed through the first-stage engines to avoid intense thermal shock during ignition. At T-05:00 minutes, Resilience transitioned to internal power, and Falcon 9 propellant loading was completed at T-02:00 minutes.
T-01:00 minute saw Falcon 9 enter startup, and the flight computer was commanded to begin final pre-launch checks. Falcon 9’s tanks were also brought to flight pressures.
At T-00:45 seconds, the SpaceX Launch Director gave the final “go” for launch, with no issues occurring during propellant loading or within the range. Then, at T-00:03 seconds, Falcon 9’s engine controller initiated the first stage ignition sequence, and the nine Merlin engines ignited soon after.
Finally, at T0, Falcon 9, Resilience, and the all-civilian Fram2 mission lifted off from LC-39A.
Falcon 9 and Resilience ascend into the Florida skies on the Fram2 mission. (Credit: Sawyer Rosenstein for NSF)
Falcon 9 and its crew experienced maximum aerodynamic pressure, or Max Q, at T+00:57 seconds as Falcon 9 flew a southern trajectory out of the Cape. Main engine cutoff (MECO) occurred at T+02:34 minutes, quickly followed by stage separation at T+02:38 minutes and second stage engine start (SES-1) at T+02:46 minutes.
As the second stage and Resilience powered to orbit, first-stage booster B1085 performed a 30-second boostback burn at T+02:51 minutes to ensure the booster landed in international waters. The booster then coasted for three minutes before igniting its engines for the entry burn at T+06:26 minutes. After another short coast, B1085 ignited its engines for the landing burn at T+07:47 minutes and landed atop A Shortfall of Gravitas at T+08:12 minutes.
Less than a minute later, at T+08:57 minutes, second stage engine cutoff (SECO-1) occurred, and Fram2 officially became the first human spaceflight mission to orbit Earth in a polar orbit. Resilience separated from the second stage at T+09:46 minutes, and the opening of the capsule’s nosecone was commanded at T+10:34 minutes.
Artist’s impression of Resilience and Fram2 in orbit over one of Earth’s poles. (Credit: SpaceX)
The Fram2 mission then began soon after. Resilience was inserted into a 430 km orbit inclined at 90 degrees. An exact landing date has not yet been provided, but the mission is expected to last “nearly four days.” Following the end of the mission, deorbiting, and reentry, Resilience will become the first Dragon to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
“After extensive training and dedication from our entire crew, we are honored to continue the legacy of the Fram name in an exciting era of commercial space exploration. We are thankful for this opportunity, and we are grateful to SpaceX for making this mission a reality – we are excited to be the first crew to view and capture the Earth’s polar regions from low-Earth orbit and support important research to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration,” said Chun Wang, Fram2 mission commander.
(Lead image: Falcon 9 and Resilience launch from LC-39A in Florida for the Fram2 mission. Credit: Sawyer Rosenstein for NSF)
