In April 2025, four private astronauts aboard SpaceX's Fram2 became the first humans ever to circle Earth in a true polar orbit — a route that neither NASA, the Soviet Union nor any other government space programme had flown in the entire history of human spaceflight.

In April 2025, four private astronauts aboard SpaceX's Fram2 became the first humans ever to circle Earth in a true polar orbit — a route that neither NASA, the Soviet Union nor any other government space programme had flown in the entire history of human spaceflight.

Fram2's 90-degree orbit was a genuine human-spaceflight first. NASA came close with a polar shuttle plan at Vandenberg, but no government crew ever flew the route.