Four private citizens are set to make history Friday by launching into orbit on the first wholly private mission to the International Space Station with an all-civilian crew
The flight, organized by the Houston-based company Axiom Space, is set to lift off Friday at 11:17 a.m. EST from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Axiom mission, know as Ax-1, won’t be the first time an all-civilian crew has flown to space. That milestone was set last year when SpaceX launched four private citizens on a three-day orbital joyride aboard the company’s Crew Dragon capsule. It will, however, be the first time an all-civilian crew visits the space station, marking a key breakthrough for both space tourism and the rapidly expanding commercial spaceflight industry.
The upcoming launch follows a pair of high-profile trips to suborbital space last year by billionaire entrepreneurs Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos. It’s also just the latest example of how human spaceflight — once limited to governments and their space agencies — is now flourishing as a commercial enterprise.
What sets Axiom’s flight apart from previous trips with private citizens to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station is that it won’t just be a single paying customer accompanied by a group of professional astronauts, said Derek Hassman, Axiom Space’s operations director.
“In the case of the Ax-1 mission, it’s very different in that the entire crew [is] unaffiliated with any government,” Hassman said Thursday in a preflight news briefing.
Four men will take part in the Ax-1 mission, led by Michael López-Alegría, a retired NASA astronaut who now serves as the vice president of business development for Axiom Space. He will be joined by three paying customers: American real estate investor Larry Connor, Canadian businessman Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe, a former fighter pilot from Israel.
“This collection of pioneers — the first space crew of its kind — represents a defining moment in humanity’s eternal pursuit of exploration and progress,” López-Alegría said in a statement back in January, when the mission was first announced.
The crew members will launch in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. The foursome is expected to spend eight days at the space station, where they will participate in a host of science experiments and philanthropic projects, including health-related research for the Mayo Clinic and the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
Connor, Pathy and Stibbe paid $55 million apiece for the experience, as The Associated Press reported this year.
Axiom Space has called the Ax-1 mission a “precursor” to commercializing low-Earth orbit. The company said it intends to fly at least three other commercial flights to the ISS and is eventually planning to construct its own privately-funded space station in orbit.
Denise Chow is a reporter for NBC News Science focused on general science and climate change.
Four private citizens are set to make history Friday by launching into orbit on the first wholly private mission to the International Space Station with an all-civilian crewThe flight, organized by the Houston-based company Axiom Space, is set to lift off Friday at 11:17 a.m. EST from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The Axiom mission, know as Ax-1, won’t be the first time an all-civilian crew has flown to space. That milestone was set last year when SpaceX launched four private citizens on a three-day orbital joyride aboard the company’s Crew Dragon capsule. It will, however, be the first time an all-civilian crew visits the space station, marking a key breakthrough for both space tourism and the rapidly expanding commercial spaceflight industry.The upcoming launch follows a pair of high-profile trips to suborbital space last year by billionaire entrepreneurs Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos. It’s also just the latest example of how human spaceflight — once limited to governments and their space agencies — is now flourishing as a commercial enterprise.The Ax-1 crew will be the first private, all-civilian mission to the International Space Station.Chris Gunn for Axiom SpaceWhat sets Axiom’s flight apart from previous trips with private citizens to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station is that it won’t just be a single paying customer accompanied by a group of professional astronauts, said Derek Hassman, Axiom Space’s operations director.“In the case of the Ax-1 mission, it’s very different in that the entire crew [is] unaffiliated with any government,” Hassman said Thursday in a preflight news briefing.Four men will take part in the Ax-1 mission, led by Michael López-Alegría, a retired NASA astronaut who now serves as the vice president of business development for Axiom Space. He will be joined by three paying customers: American real estate investor Larry Connor, Canadian businessman Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe, a former fighter pilot from Israel.”This collection of pioneers — the first space crew of its kind — represents a defining moment in humanity’s eternal pursuit of exploration and progress,” López-Alegría said in a statement back in January, when the mission was first announced.The crew members will launch in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. The foursome is expected to spend eight days at the space station, where they will participate in a host of science experiments and philanthropic projects, including health-related research for the Mayo Clinic and the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Connor, Pathy and Stibbe paid $55 million apiece for the experience, as The Associated Press reported this year.Axiom Space has called the Ax-1 mission a “precursor” to commercializing low-Earth orbit. The company said it intends to fly at least three other commercial flights to the ISS and is eventually planning to construct its own privately-funded space station in orbit.Denise Chow is a reporter for NBC News Science focused on general science and climate change.