The first fully private team of astronauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, Axiom Space, the organizer of the mission, announced on Twitter. The flight was recognized by industry representatives and NASA as a milestone in the commercialization of space flight.
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“The AX-1 team, after they have left the Dragon capsule, are greeted by the ISS crew and enter a place that will be their home for the next eight days,” Axiom Space wrote on Twitter. She released a video showing commercial crew members being greeted by astronauts in the space station.
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SpaceX’s astronaut rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday. The Dragon 2 Endeavor capsule was launched by Falcon 9 into orbit and arrived at the space station around 2.30 PM Polish time. Its arrival was delayed by a minor technical fault.
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An important step in the development of commercial space ventures
SpaceX, a company founded in 2002 by billionaire Elon Musk, oversees the mission from its headquarters near Los Angeles. NASA, in addition to providing a launch site, will assume responsibility for astronauts once they are in the space station and begin their eight-day scientific and biomedical research while in orbit.
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The mission was recognized by experts as an important step in the development of commercial space ventures. Friday’s launch was SpaceX’s sixth space flight in the past two years, following four NASA astronaut missions to the ISS and September’s Inspiration 4 launch that sent a civilian crew into orbit for the first time. However, this flight did not end with docking to the ISS.
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A private team of astronauts has arrived at the ISSReuters
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Crew
The crew consists of three businessmen, and the fourth – the head of the Axiom 1 (Ax-1) mission – is former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria.
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Born in Spain, 63-year-old Lopez-Alegria is also the company’s vice president of business development. His deputy is Larry Connor, a real estate and technology entrepreneur and an Ohio aerobatic aviator appointed as the mission pilot. Connor is in his 70’s and the company has not disclosed his exact age.
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The Ax-1 team is completed by the philanthropist investor and former Israeli fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe (64) and Canadian businessman and philanthropist Mark Pathy (52). Stibbe is the second Israeli in space after Ilan Ramon to die along with six NASA crew members in the 2003 space shuttle Columbia crash.
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Each of the crew members received thorough space training from NASA and SpaceX.
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Civilian astronauts paid 55 million dollars for participation in the mission. They will have access to all parts of the ISS, except the space of the Russian cosmonauts, although they can enter with their permission.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon manned module ready for take-off as part of Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) from NASA’s Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FloridaPAP/EPA/NASA/Joel Kowsky HANDOUT
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon manned module ready for take-off as part of Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) from NASA’s Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FloridaPAP/EPA/NASA/Joel Kowsky HANDOUT
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What after the ISS
NASA has no plans to invest in a new space station after the ISS is decommissioned, which is expected around 2030. However, a US agency chose Axiom in 2020 to design and build a new commercial wing for the orbital laboratory. The plans envisage that Axiom modules will eventually be disconnected from the rest of the station when it is ready to be decommissioned. Other private operators are expected to put into orbit their own stations when the ISS is withdrawn from service.
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It is possible, however, that Russia may want to end its cooperation with the International Space Station much earlier than in 2030, using it as blackmail in connection with the sanctions imposed on this country after the invasion of Ukraine. Such suggestions were made on social media by the head of the Russian space agency – Roscosmos – Dmitry Rogozin. He is considered to be closely associated with President Vladimir Putin.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon manned module ready for take-off as part of Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) from NASA’s Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FloridaPAP/EPA/NASA/Joel Kowsky HANDOUT
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon manned module ready for take-off as part of Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) from NASA’s Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FloridaPAP/EPA/NASA/Joel Kowsky HANDOUT
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photo-source">Main photo source: Reuters
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