Ax-3 Mission to Launch by November 2023

NASA and Axiom Space, the Houston-based, privately-funded space infrastructure concern, have signed a mission order for the third private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. Subject undertaking is slated to launch no earlier than November 2023 from the Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.

NASA director of commercial space Phil McAlister stated: “The diversity of currently available commercial orbital human spaceflight opportunities is truly astounding. NASA’s commercial crew flights to the space station for our government astronauts paved the way for fully private missions to space like Inspiration4 and Polaris as well as private astronaut missions to the orbiting laboratory like the one we are announcing today. We are starting to see the incorporation of space into our economic sphere, and it is going to revolutionize the way people see, use, and experience space.”  

Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) is expected to spend 14 days docked to the International Space Station (ISS). The enterprise’s specific launch date will be predicated upon spacecraft traffic to the ISS and in-orbit activity planning and constraints. NASA and Axiom Space mission planners will coordinate in-orbit activities for the private astronauts to conduct in coordination with space station crew members and flight controllers on the ground.

Axiom Space president and CEO Michael Suffredini remarked: “Axiom Space’s selection to lead the next private astronaut mission to the International Space Station enables us to continue expanding access to nations, academia, commercial entities, and emerging industries to research, test, and demonstrate new technologies in microgravity. As NASA’s focus shifts back to the Moon and on to Mars, we are committed to transforming low-Earth orbit into a global space marketplace, where access to space moves beyond the partners of the space station to nations, institutions, and individuals with new ideas fueling a thriving human economy beyond Earth.”

Axiom Space will present the ISS’s Multilateral Crew Operations Panel four primary and two back-up crew-member nominees which will be evaluated and considered for the Ax-3 mission. NASA currently requires all private astronaut mission providers to select a space-veteran NASA astronaut as the spacecraft commander. Following review and approval from NASA and its international partners, the Ax-3 mission’s prime crew members will be named.

Once vetted, selected, and named, the Ax-3 crew members will train for the flight with NASA, the agency’s international partners, and SpaceX—which Axiom Space has contracted as launch provider for transportation to and from the ISS. SpaceX will also familiarize the private astronauts with systems, procedures, and emergency preparedness germane to the ISS and the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Based on current mission planning, Ax-3 crew training is apt to begin in spring 2023.

Axiom Space is obtaining NASA services to conduct the mission via both the mission specific order and Reimbursable Space Act Agreements.

NASA made its selections for the third private astronaut mission from proposals received in response to its September 2022 NASA Research Announcement and evaluated the mission proposals based on: the provider’s ability to successfully execute an orbital mission, NASA’s ability to support the proposed mission, and the mission’s contribution to the agency’s goal of low-Earth orbit commercialization. NASA also solicited proposals for a fourth private astronaut mission opportunity—which will likely launch in 2024—and will formally announce said mission after negotiations result in an award.

FMI: www.nasa.gov