Houston-based Axiom Space and SpaceX are making the final preparations for the first all-private crewed flight to the International Space Station (ISS) later this month. Axiom's Ax-1 mission is set to be launched o March 30 and will stay in the orbiting laboratory for 10 days.

Ax-1's four astronauts are composed of Axiom's Michael López-Alegría as the commanding officer of the mission and three paying customers. They will fly inside a SpaceX Dragon capsule that will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Axiom CEO Michael Suffredini said in a press conference on February 28 that they are excited to make history to send an all-private crewed mission to ISS. 

Ax-1 Mission to Launch on March 30 to Become the First All-Private Crewed Flight to ISS
(Photo : Pixabay/WikiImages)
Ax-1 Mission to Launch on March 30 to Become the First All-Private Crewed Flight to ISS

The First of Hundreds of Missions of Axiom

According to NASA Spaceflight, Axiom Space and SpaceX partnered to bring Ax-1 into reality. It will be the first of its kind and the first of the hundreds of missions of Axiom. The project was first announced in March 2020. It aims to send a single Axiom astronaut alongside three private astronauts on an eight-day mission.

They initially planned to conduct four missions to the ISS in which there will be two flights per year to align with the busy schedule of ISS. These missions are planned under the Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA.

There are currently two modules for the Axiom segment under construction with Thales Alenia Space and will be used as an all-private, all-commercially owned space station. These segments are scheduled to be launched in 2024 and 2025 and will dock in the Harmony module's Forward Port.

The four crew for the Ax-1 mission was finalized and announced in January 2021. It included former NASA astronaut and Axiom vice president Michael López-Alegría, businessmen Eytan Stibbe of Israel, Mark Pathy of Montreal, and Larry Connor from Ohio. 

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What Scientific Activities Will the Ax-1 Crew Members Conduct in ISS?

The all-private crew will spend 10 days in the ISS collecting life science and technology demonstrations, Space.com reported. However, Axiom Director of in-space research Christian Maender said that more would be announced in the coming weeks.

Moreover, they will conduct medical investigations for stem cell, cardiac health and ikey tech demonstrations that will hopefully help reduce the costs of getting equipment up and running in orbit.

Each crew member paid $55 million to join the mission. López-Alegría clarified that the three private crew members are not space tourists. For now, they focused on a refresher training on data collection for the experiments in ISS, and doing some pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight training.

He added that the Ax-1 training is similar to what NASA astronauts do when preparing for spaceflight. López-Alegría said that Axiom focuses on safety and the mission's success.

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