Everything You Need to Know About the First Private Mission to the International Space Station

This Friday , a SpaceX rocket will attempt to shoot off from Kennedy Space Center with four civilians on board . It ’s the first wholly private mission to the ISS , in what ’s brace to be a precedent - set mission . Here ’s what you need to know ahead of this historical launching .

The Ax-1 crew , which includes a retired NASA cosmonaut , will climb aboard a Crew Dragon space capsule on April 8 and blast off at 11:17 ante meridiem EDT atop a Falcon 9 rocket . Should all go as project , the commission , managed by Houston - based Axiom Space , will serve as yet another of import milestone in the on-going denationalisation of space . Here are five things you should know about the Ax-1 mission .

It’s the first all-private mission to the ISS

Last year’sInspiration4 missionwill go down in history as being the first to send an all - private gang to space . Ax-1 is different in that the four gang members — all of whom are secret citizen — will expend clock time aboard the International Space Station . That ’s never been done before .

The close thing , I theorize , was theRussian film crewthat pass 12 days aboard the ISS last year to film scenes for a picture , but that mission , Soyuz MS-19 , was n’t alone individual , as spaceman Anton Shkaplerov took part as the air force officer . The four men who will take part in this raw mission are Michael López - Alegría from the U.S. and Spain , Larry Connor from the U.S. , Eytan Stibbe of Israel , and Mark Pathy of Canada .

Axiom did not react to a question about how much , if anything , the crew members paid for their ass . A 2019press releasefrom the company mention a price shred of $ 55 million for private cosmonaut tag .

The Ax-1 crew inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

The Ax-1 crew inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.Photo: SpaceX

Axiom is a small company with big plans

Axiom Space , founded in 2016 , had around 110 employees in February 2021 , but it ’s been expanding and hasplansto reach 1,000 workers by the end of 2024 . The ship’s company has close tie with NASA ; Michael Suffredini , former NASA ISS programme coach , serves as the company ’s chief executive officer , and Charles Bolden , former NASA decision maker , works as an independent consultant .

Axiom has a tenacious tilt of potential offerings , let in the education of astronaut , managing private and national flights to the ISS , offer on - orbit fabrication capabilities , developing space - found living and medical support systems , among other services relate to the geographic expedition and commercialisation of space . Importantly , the company has plans to build a private distance station ( more on this is just a snatch ) , which it ’s positioning as a next cornerstone of its overall offering .

Ax-1 is a boys trip

López - Alegría , a former NASA spaceman and Axiom vice President of the United States , will overtop Ax-1 , while Connor , an entrepreneur and investor , will wait on as the fender . López - Alegría pilot to space on four different occasions during his 20 - year career at NASA , and he ’s balance to become the first cosmonaut in history to moderate both a civil and a commercial human space travel charge . Pathy and Stibbe , both investors , will attend as mission medical specialist .

All Ax-1 crewmembers are men , but former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is serve as the mission ’s backup commander . And on that promissory note , Whitson is currently slate to overlook the Ax-2 mission , scheduled for other 2023 .

This is a ‘precursor’ mission

AxiomdescribesAx-1 as a “ precursor ” private astronaut mission . It ’s the first of four nominate missions , all of which are stepping Isidor Feinstein Stone for the party as it looks forward to the expression of its individual orbital outstation , dubbedAxiom Station . Construction of the station is schedule to begin in 2024 ; a succession of modules will be incrementally bring to the Harmony node of the ISS . Upon theretirementof ISS in 2030 , the space place will detach from the outpost to “ form the world ’s first free - flying , in camera evolve , internationally available blank post — the central node of a nigh - future connection of enquiry , manufacturing , and commerce in LEO , ” concord to Axiom .

The Ax-1 crowd will spend 10 days in space , eight of which will be onboard the U.S. section of the ISS . The work party will scarper scientific experiments , perform some commercial-grade activity , and promote STEM education . The bunch wo n’t have clip to neutralize , as it plans on doing 25 different experimentation in just 100 hr . A dry land team stationed atAxiom Space Mission Control Centerin Houston will provide around - the - clock backing .

The mission is meant to bring us closer to space

The crew has partnered with several institution to do a series of scientific and technological experiments and test . Some of them carry of import deduction for humans living on Earth , but they ’re primarily gear toward enable further blank exploration . As Axiom explain in anews release : “ Data gather up in - escape will touch on understanding of human physiology on Earth and in eye socket as well as establish the utility of novel technologies that could be used for future human spaceflight pursuance and humankind on Earth . ”

A adept model is theEEG - enable helmet , which will be tested and operate by the Ax-1 work party . Working with Ben Gurion University , the team will record and analyze mental capacity signals in an endeavour to blob likely neurologic differences in humankind while working in space . Ultimately , the destination is to provide succeeding longsighted - full term infinite missions with an easy - to - consumption and comfortable helmet and to build an “ precise machine for daily gauging for astronaut competence , ” according tobrain.space , the Israeli company behind the helmet .

The crew will also experiment with TESSERAE , or Tessellated Electromagnetic Space Structures for the Exploration of Reconfigurable , Adaptive Environments . This is futurist stuff , as this tech could eventually result in ego - assemble satellites . name after Roman mosaics , modular TESSERAE are designed to connect to make larger structures , such as elbow room and parabolical mirrors . During Ax-1 , the squad will try out epitome capable of sensing the quality of bond between tile .

The Ax-1 crew (from left to right): Larry Connor, Michael López-Alegría, Mark Pathy, and Eytan Stibbe.

The Ax-1 crew (from left to right): Larry Connor, Michael López-Alegría, Mark Pathy, and Eytan Stibbe.Image: Axiom Space

Collaborations necessitate the Mayo Clinic , the Cleveland Clinic , and Montreal ’s Children Hospital will study the effects of microgravity on aging , heart health , spinal and brain tissue , chronic pain , and eternal rest upset . The team will also “ leverage the accelerated aging aspect of the microgravity environment to assess former pre - Crab and genus Cancer change in tumour organoids , ” and test a new aviation purgation system of rules , among other tasks .

It all gets started on Friday , weather permitting . It took a while , but we ’ve to the full entered an era in which private individuals — albeit very privileged private individuals — can vanish to low Earth sphere and employ space as their personal playground and a place to do patronage . Hopefully they ’ll keep the rest of us in mind .

Have a tip or commentary for me about the spacefaring industry ? pass on me at[email protect ] .

Depiction of Axiom Station attached to the ISS Harmony module.