The first fully private crew to stay on board the international space station will have to wait a few more days before taking off aboard a Crew Dragon from SpaceX to reach the International Space Station (ISS). Initially scheduled a few days ago, the takeoff of AX-1, that is the name of the mission, is now scheduled for April 6 at the earliest.
This mission marketed by Axiom Space has the particularity that its four crew members all leave as private. It therefore does not have any professional astronauts in service in a space agency to supervise the mission and support Axiom’s customers. That said, the crew of AX-1 will obviously not be on their own. It will be led by Michael López-Alegría, Vice President of Axiom Space. At 63, this former Nasa has already to his credit nearly 258 days in space and 10 extravehicular exits. He took part in three missions with the american space shuttle and made a stay in the ISS.
Like “real”
Michael López-Alegría will therefore be accompanied by three crew members. There is the pilot Crew Dragon, Larry Connor, and mission specialists Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe. Said like that, one could think of dealing with professional astronauts from one or more space agencies! But these three private individuals are indeed space tourists and they all wanted to give meaning to their mission. They have therefore trained and prepared like the “real ones” and will carry out a research program prepared with agencies or scientists as well as philanthropic projects.
Their stay is planned to last eight days in the American segment of the Space Station. We suspect that they will not be confined to the only American modules…
With Axiom and SpaceX, the International Space Station will become trendy!
Article of Remy Decourt published on 06/06/2021
the space tourism to the International Space Station is accelerating. After the announcement at the beginning of the year of a first manned commercial and tourist mission, SpaceX and Axiom Space have concluded a new agreement which provides for three other manned flights aboard the Crew Dragon bound for the orbital complex by the end of 2023. In parallel, Axiom is working on its own space station, the first module of which could be connected to the ISS from 2024.
Axiom Space has just signed a new launch contract with SpaceX bringing to four the number of manned missions that will be launched to the International Space Station by 2023. These missions will be carried out by the Falcon 9 and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Ax-1, Axiom’s first mission, announced in March 2020has already been approved by NASA and should be launched to the ISS no earlier than January 2022. Eventually, Axiom wants to offer up to two private flights to the ISS per year.
Each mission will carry three clients and a professional astronaut. For AX-1, the professional astronaut will be Michael López-Alegría. At 63, this former NASA employee has already spent nearly 258 days in space and 10 spacewalks. He participated in three missions with the American space shuttle and made a stay in the ISS. If Axiom Space did not reveal the names of the first three passengers, in addition to an Israeli millionaire, we quote actor Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman.
Founded in 2016, this start-up presents itself as a full service provider for assignments orbitals intended for private astronauts, tourists but also researchers who could board the ISS to carry out their own experiment or actors to create scenes for a film! Its offer includes training, transportation and mission planning.
A commercial station in development
Axiom Space is becoming a major player in the marketing and use of the orbital complex. This privatization of the ISS is encouraged by NASA. The goal of the agency and its partners is to develop a real economy in low orbit around the ISS, relying on New Space companies and start-ups, including SpaceX and Axiom Space in particular.
Axiom Space has also raised more than $130 million to develop a space station that will first be attached to the ISS before becoming independent. The modules of this commercial station will be produced by Thales Alenia Spacewith a first launch as early as 2024. The first two elements to be launched are the node junction node 1 (AxN1) and the housing module (AxH). Axiom Space’s goal is to make its station autonomous and separate it from the ISS within ten years.
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