Bitcoin investor buys SpaceX flight for ride over North, South poles

A bitcoin investor who bought a SpaceX flight for himself and three polar explorers blasted off on Monday night on the first rocket ride to carry people over the North and South poles.

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Chun Wang, a Chinese-bornentrepreneur, hurtled into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX's Falcon rocket steered southward over the Atlantic, putting the space tourists on a path never flown before in 64 years of human spaceflight.

Wang won't say how much he paid Elon Musk's SpaceX for the 31/½-day ultimate polar adventure.

The first leg of their flight from Florida to the South Pole - took barely a half-hour. From the targeted altitude of some 270 miles (440 kilometres), their fully automated capsule will circle the globe in roughly 1/½ hours including 46 minutes to fly from pole to pole.

"Enjoy the views of the poles. Send us some pictures," SpaceX Launch Control radioed once the capsule reached orbit.

Pushing boundaries: Wang has already visited the polar regions in person and wants to view them from space. The trip is also about "pushing boundaries, sharing knowledge," he said ahead of the flight.

Now a citizen of Malta, he took along three guests: Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen,

German robotics researcher Rabea Rogge and Australian polar guide Eric Philips.

Mikkelsen, the first Norwegian bound for space, has flown over the poles before, but at a much lower altitude.