World's First Multinational Commercial crew to ISS, launching this week
Updated: Apr 8, 2022
Axiom sends former Chief NASA Astronaut and three private astronauts onboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon
Axiom Space; a Houston based aerospace firm, is expected to launch four people into space with SpaceX aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavor "C206" spacecraft on it's 3rd visit to the International Space Station, with a scheduled launch time of no earlier than Friday, April 8, 2022, at 15:17 UTC, Blasts-off from Kennedy Space Center Pad LC-39A in Florida. The carrier rocket will be Falcon 9 v1.2 FT Booster B1062.5 assigned for the mission "Ax-1" The weather is supporting 90% in favour of Launch Criteria.

The first stage B1062.5 is expected to land on the autopilot Drone-ship; A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed 500 km downrange from Cape Canaveral, deployed with support ships Doug (ASDS tug) and Spacecraft and Crew Recovery fleet; Shannon (previously Go Navigator) and Megan (previously Go Searcher) deployed at the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean recovery zones, off the coast of Florida.

The multinational crew of four consists of Commander Michael López-Alegría from the US/Spain, Pilot Larry Connor from the US, Mission Specialists; Eytan Stibbe from Israel and Mark Pathy from Canada. The quartet will be the first fully private crew to visit the International Space Station; previous private astronauts have flown as one or two individuals accompanied by government astronauts conducting a routine mission. Axiom has chosen, for each planned flight it organizes, to be led by a retired/former astronaut