After several months of merriment, navigating backlash and protests, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg’s superyacht Launchpad docked for a breather at the prestigious La Ciotat facility in France. Perhaps this Feadship beauty needs some rest after what can be called a happening half-year. Luxurylaunches reported in January that the dynamic duo, Launchpad and its shadow vessel Wingman, spent nearly two months waiting for the arrival of the world’s third-richest man to surf and soak some sun, but that didn’t happen.
Instead, the two vessels returned to Port Everglades, completing a staggering 9,600-nautical-mile round trip from San Francisco to the South Pacific and back; a journey that saw the 387-footer burn through an eye-watering 676,800 liters of diesel.
It was followed by several trips that took the Meta CEO, his philanthropist wife Priscilla Chan, and their kids to some of the remotest corners of the planet. The first leg of their tour was in April, with the $300 million superyacht docking in Norway. Funnily, even the $30 million support vessel could match the king’s ship’s grandeur. After enjoying the 5,280-mile trans‑Atlantic voyage to Norway’s fjords that served as a floating base for heliskiing, where Zuckerberg landed via helicopter directly on the yacht’s helipad to comply with Norway’s landing regulations, they moved on, ignoring backlash from locals.
The summer voyage continued to Greece, where Facebook’s top brass joined the Zuckerberg clan aboard Launchpad, an unmatched 40th birthday gift. This four-decker has plenty of room to accommodate 26 guests in 13 cabins serviced by 42 crew members. Though the Espen Øino-designed vessel exudes seamless luxury, its voyage leaves anything but a silent trail, especially when it comes to emissions.
According to The Yacht CO₂ Tracker Collective, Launchpad emitted approximately 6.2 tons of CO₂ over just four days between Positano and Naples, burning 2,394 liters of fuel. Since October 2024 alone, the yacht consumed more than 2 million liters of fuel, generating over 5,300 tons of CO₂.
Powering this maritime marvel are four MTU 20V 4000 M93L diesel engines, each requiring roughly 291 gallons of fuel per hour. Combined, they give Launchpad a top speed of 24 knots and a fuel tank that holds up to 423,700 liters of diesel. According to Voz Media, when cruising the vessel burns about 1,165 gallons of fuel every hour, releasing 40 tons of CO₂, the equivalent of what 630 average family cars emit in the same time.
To put it in perspective, when cruising Launchpad’s hourly carbon footprint is like driving a typical gasoline car for 99,000 miles around the Earth, not once but four times. Exhausting? Maybe for the planet. But not for the man worth $267 billion, relaxing high above the waves inside his multimillion-dollar maritime mansion.
The pleasure craft, on the other hand, is surely in need of some well-deserved TLC, which it will receive at one of the world’s finest superyacht spas, La Ciotat, according to LaProvence. The facility has also catered to another tech billionaire, Jeff Bezos, who’s known to put his megayacht Koru to good use during the summer months.
