The first totally private mission has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) this early Saturday with a crew of four company members Axiom Space.
The NASA has praised its three-way partnership with Axiom and SpaceX as a key step toward commercializing the so-called “low earth orbit“. The US space agency will now concentrate on more ambitious trips into the depths of the cosmos.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon Endeavor capsule docked at 12:29 GMT on Saturday to the ISS and the crew entered the space station almost two hours later, after launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday.
Michael López-Alegría, the first Spanish astronaut, in front
Commanding the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) meets former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegriawith dual American and Spanish nationality, who has flown into space four times during his 20-year career, last visiting the ISS in 2007.
Three passengers who have paid for their ticket have accompanied him on this mission: the American real estate investor Larry ConnorCanadian investor and philanthropist Mark Pathyand former Israeli fighter pilot, investor, and philanthropist Eytan Stibbe. The ticket priceswhich includes eight days on the space station before an eventual splashdown in the Atlantic, has been $55 million.
“We are here to experiment, but we understand that we have a responsibility to make sure everything works out,” Connor said during NASA’s live broadcast.
Ax-1 is the first mission with a fully private crew that flies one private spacecraft to the ISS. Houston-based Axiom pays SpaceX for transportation, and NASA also charges Axiom for use of the space station.
25 research projects
On board the ISS, which orbits 400 kilometers above sea level, the quartet will carry out 25 research projects, including a demonstration of MIT’s technology of intelligent tiles that form a robotic swarm and self-assemble into spatial architecture. Another experiment involves the use of cancer stem cells to grow mini-tumors and then take advantage of the accelerated aging environment of microgravity to identify biomarkers for early detection of cancers.
“Our guys don’t go there to float around for eight days taking pictures and watching from the dome,” he said. Derek HassmannCOO of Axiom Space, to reporters at a pre-launch briefing.
The Axiom crew will live and work alongside the station’s regular crew: three Americans and one German on the US side and three Russians on the Russian side.
Target 2024: A private space station
Related news
The company has partnered for a total of four missions with SpaceX, and NASA has already approved in principle the second, Ax-2. Axiom sees these trips as the first steps towards a greater goal: build your own private space stationwhose first module will be released in 2024.
The structure will first be attached to the ISS before becoming autonomous when the orbiting laboratory is deactivated, which is expected around 2030.