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“Good luck guys, let’s have some fun.” With this farewell to the ground staff, the first private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) was launched yesterday from Cape Canaveral in Florida (USA) under the command of the commander of Spanish origin Michael Lopez-Alegria. The former NASA astronaut born in Madrid -for which the expedition bears the Spanish flag on his insignia-, has returned to space after fourteen years, accompanied by three crew members who have in common being investors, philanthropists and, above all, , millionaires: Larry Connor (EE.UU.), Mark Pathy (Canada) and Eytan Stibbe (Israel) have paid no less than 55 million dollars per head for the trip (more than 50 million euros at current exchange rates).
They not only pretend to see the Earth at an altitude of 400 kilometers. They will also carry out 26 scientific and technological experiments during their eight days on the platform.
The expedition, called Axiom-1 (Ax-1), is the first crewed company Axiom Space, located in Houston (Texas) and has López-Alegría as vice president. After several postponements -the last one this week, since the launch was initially scheduled for Wednesday-, yesterday afternoon the Axiom-1 crew was finally able to get on the ship Dragon Endeavour on top of a rocket Falcon 9. Before leaving, they did the pertinent communication checks and that their space suits, pristine white, did not have leaks. At 5:17 p.m., as planned, the mission took off and a few minutes later the capsule successfully reached orbit. That’s when loud applause was heard at the Florida base.
Falcon 9 launches the first all-private human spaceflight mission to the @space_stationpic.twitter.com/krDfQyaVTO
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 8, 2022
Both the ship and the launcher belong to the company SpaceX and they are the same ones used by NASA astronauts since 2020 to fly to the orbital platform. When they arrive this Saturday, the new crew members will share the complex with seven regular station members: three American astronauts, one German astronaut and three Russian cosmonauts. Ten days after launch, the capsule will splash down in Florida waters.
“We are not tourists”
Although since 2000 the ISS has received several ‘civilian’ visitors, including an unlikely Russian film crew and a Japanese billionaire, this is the first mission whose purpose is to carry out scientific experiments in orbit. In addition, on previous occasions, Soyuz rockets were used and the travelers flew accompanied by cosmonauts.
Axiom Space insisted on making it clear that its experience is far from similar to the short suborbital flights offered by companies such as Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, whose objective is basically pure entertainment. “We are not space tourists,” said López-Alegría. In fact, the team, which has undergone extensive astronaut training with NASA and SpaceX, will perform some 26 experiments in microgravity, including research on brain health, heart stem cells, cancer and aging, as well as a technology demonstration to produce optical elements.
Born in Madrid but raised in California, López-Alegría (63 years old) has flown into space four times. Between 2006 and 2007 he spent seven months on the ISS and has a record experience in space walks (67 hours and 40 minutes), only surpassed by the Russian Anatoly Solovyev. However, this is the first mission in which he wears the Spanish flag, something of which he claimed to be “very proud”.
Connor (72 years old), appointed Ax-1 pilot, is a partner in a real estate investment company. Pathy (52) is a businessman and Stibbe (64) is an investor and former Israeli Air Force pilot. As a curiosity, on the menu in orbit they will taste Iberian ham and Valencian paella from the Chef Jose Andres.
Axiom’s ambition goes beyond these flights. It is building modules to integrate them into the ISS. The goal is that when the useful life of the station ends, the company’s modules will separate and become the first private orbital station.
“This is the beginning of many beginnings to commercialize low Earth orbit,” said Axiom co-founder and CEO Kam Ghaffarian. “We’re in the early days of the internet, and we haven’t even imagined all the possibilities that we’re going to provide in space,” he added. For NASA, this launch takes “commerce to a whole new level.”
This takes commerce to a whole new level. @Axiom_Space‘s # Ax1 mission is on its way to the @Space_Station in @SpaceX‘s Dragon Endeavour—a key step in our ongoing work to open opportunities for space travelers in low-Earth orbit. pic.twitter.com/SZk7Tseykw
– NASA (@NASA) April 8, 2022
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