All-civilian astronaut crew lifts off for ISS
A new era in commercial space travel launched from Kennedy Space Centre yesterday.
The Axiom Space mission to send the first-ever all-civilian crew for a stay on the International Space Station (ISS) lifted off from Launch Pad 39-A at 11.17am, local time, on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour.
On board the AX-1 mission is Axiom employee and former astronaut Commander Michael Lo´pezAlegrı´a, who has plenty of space experience having flown three shuttle missions and lived on board the ISS for 215 days. He’s guiding three rookies – Larry Connor, Mark
Pathy and Eytan Stibbe – who each paid Axiom Space US$55 million (NZ$104m) for the 10-day mission.
Nine minutes after launch, mission control confirmed the spacecraft had achieved orbit. ‘‘SpaceX Endeavour, we copy and it’s great to be here. Zero-G and we feel fine,’’ Lo´ pez-Alegrı´a said, as a plush toy dog floated about the cabin.
‘‘Axiom Space was really formed to make space more accessible to everyone,’’ said company president and CEO Michael Suffredini. ‘‘This really does represent the first step where a bunch of individuals who want to do something meaningful in low-Earth orbit that aren’t members of a government are able to take this opportunity.’’
While the ISS has hosted civilians in the past, the Axiom mission looks to redefine the purpose behind the mission. It’s the first of four flights it wants to make to the ISS ahead of its larger-scale plan to build out its own commercial space station.
Axiom Space won a Nasa contract to begin sending up modules to the ISS beginning in late 2024. In successive years, added modules will have their own life-support system, sleeping quarters and research areas able to support eight people outside of the Nasa, European Space Agency and Russian crews.
Once the ISS nears the end of its operational life, currently targeting 2030, the Axiom modules will separate and become their own standalone space station. –