New Delhi: Houston-based aerospace firm Axiom Space is set to send humans to space for the first time on Friday, April 8.
The Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) will be Axiom Space's first crewed mission to space. Ax-1 will be the first all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
It is scheduled for launch on Friday, April 8, at 11:17 am EDT (8:47 pm IST), from Launch Complex 39-A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
SpaceX will launch a four-member crew consisting of three paying passengers and a retired NASA astronaut to the space station, as part of the mission. The crew will blast off into space aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
The Ax-1 crew consists of former NASA astronaut and Axiom's vice president of business development Michael López-Alegría; American technology entrepreneur, aerobatics aviator and non-profit activist investor Larry Connor; Canadian investor and philanthropist Mark Pathy; and Israeli impact investor and philanthropist Eytan Stibbe.
If all goes to plan, the Ax-1 crew will reach the space station on Saturday, April 9, at 7:30 am EDT (5:00 pm IST).
There are currently seven people living aboard the orbital outpost, and are a part of Expedition 67. The crew aboard the ISS consists of NASA astronauts Thomas Marshburn, Raji Chari, and Kayla Barron; European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer; and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov.
Expedition 67 astronauts will welcome the Ax-1 crew about 20 hours after their launch.
On Wednesday, April 6, the Ax-1 crew performed a dress rehearsal for Friday's launch, and an integrated static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket was also conducted.
Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will serve as Ax-1's backup commander, while American racing driver John Shoffner will serve as the backup mission pilot.
The Ax-1 Crew
The Ax-1 crew will stay aboard the US segment of the orbital laboratory for approximately eight days, Axiom Space said in a statement. The space travellers aim to distinguish themselves as much as possible from space tourists performing research activities and philanthropic projects on the space station. The mission will feature nearly 100 hours of research on behalf of numerous organisations.
Michael López-Alegría
López-Alegría is the chief astronaut for Axiom Space, and has had a record setting career at NASA for 20 years, flying to space four times. He last visited the space station in 2007.
The former NASA astronaut has flown on Space Shuttle missions STS-73, STS-92, and STS-113. He served as the commander of ISS Expedition 14. López-Alegría and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin flew to the orbital laboratory from Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 18, 2006, as part of the Soyuz TMA-9 mission. He holds a record for 10 extravehicular activities (EVAs) or spacewalks, the highest for a NASA astronaut, and also holds a NASA record for the
highest cumulative EVA time, which is 67 hours and 40 minutes. He was inducted to the US Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2021.
López-Alegría was formerly the President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and has served on several advisory boards and committees including the Human Exploration and Operations Committee of the NASA Advisory Council, and the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Commercial Space Transportation Committee.
He is currently the Chairman of ASTM International's Committee on Commercial Spaceflight. He was formerly the President of the Association of Space Explorers.
López-Alegría lives in the United States with his family.
Quoting López-Alegría, a statement issued by Axiom Space said that this collection of pioneers — the first space crew of its kind — represents a defining moment in humanity's eternal pursuit of exploration and progress.
He said he knows from firsthand experience that what humans encounter in space is profound and propels them to make more meaningful contributions on returning to Earth.
"I look forward to leading this crew and to their next meaningful and productive contributions to human history, both on orbit and back home," López-Alegría said.
“We are opening a new era in human spaceflight. We are taking the first step in a next generation platform initiative that's going to bring working, living, and research in space to a much broader and more international audience, “ López-Alegría said in a Twitter post on April 1.
“Being away from NASA for 10 years and sharing these experiences with new friends and colleagues has given me a greater appreciation for just how special that was. To be able to experience it one more time is almost like waking up and then going back into a dream,” the former NASA astronaut said in another Twitter post.
López-Alegría is set to create history as the first person to ever command both a civil and a commercial human spaceflight mission.
Larry Connor
Connor is a real estate and technology entrepreneur and aerobatics aviator from Ohio. He is the founder and managing director of The Connor Group, a real estate investment firm he grew from $0 to $3.5 billion in assets, and is also the founder of two technology companies.
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Connor's non-profit endeavours include The Connor Group Kids & Community Partners, which invests in programs that pull children out of generational poverty, and The Greater Dayton School, which is Ohio's first private non-religious school exclusively for under-resourced students.
He has flown 16 different aircraft including fighter jets, and is also familiar with piloting helicopters and race car driving.
Connor has participated in several US National Aerobatic Championships, winning five aerobatic competitions.
Connor has summited Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Rainier. He has also completed the first rafting descent of the Himalayas' Drangme Chhu River.
Some of the car-racing circuit championships Connor has won include the 2014 Baja 1000 Trophy Truck Spec class and the 2000 and 2001 Formula Atlantic national championships.
Connor has three children, and has devoted 50 per cent of his assets to Kids and Community Partners.
"I think I speak for all of us that we understand this first civilian mission is a big honour and a big opportunity," Connor said in a press conference on April 1. He said that the first civilian mission comes with a big responsibility, which is to execute the mission correctly and successfully.
Through Ax-1, Connor will become the first private pilot to reach the space station and the first human to reach the deepest ocean depths and other space within one year, Axiom Space said on its website. He will also be Israel's second astronaut to reach space.
Mark Pathy
Pathy is currently the chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman of Montreal-based MAVRIK, a privately-owned sustainable investment and financing company founded by him. The company focused on innovation and social impact. He is also a member of the boards and executive committees of the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation, Dans La Rue, and the Pathy Family Foundation.
Pathy is a Masters in Business Administration from INSEAD, a non-profit business school.
He lives in Canada with his wife and three children.
Pathy said in the press conference: "It has already been life changing for me, and we haven't even launched yet, so .. really excited about what's still to come."
Through the Ax-1 mission, Pathy will become Canada's second private astronaut, and the 12th Canadian to travel to space.
Eytan Stibbe
Stibbe, who is an impact investor and philanthropist, will travel to the space station under the "Rakia" banner and the maxim "There is no dream beyond reach" which magnificently captures the spirit of the mission. Rakia is a biblical term that designates the creation of the sky.
Stibbe will facilitate scientific experiments, educational research, and artistic activities during the mission. Rakia, which is a mission that completely embraces peace, innovation, and social responsibility, will allow Stibbe a unique opportunity to foster his life-long interest in exploration and development, according to Axiom Space.
Stibbe is a close personal friend of Columbian astronaut Ilan Ramon, and a former Israeli Air Force pilot. Ramon was selected as payload specialist by NASA in 1997. He served as a Space Shuttle payload specialist of STS-107, the fatal mission of Columbia, in which he and six other crew members perished when the spacecraft disintegrated during re-entry. Stibbe co-created the Ramon foundation in honour of his friend.
Stibbe founded the Vital Capital investment fund over ten years ago, in order to improve the lives of underserved populations in developing countries. According to Axiom Space, millions of people have improved their well-being in matters such as housing, water, electricity, education, and healthcare, through Stibbe's efforts.
After the fund won international acclaim as a pioneer in the field of impact investment, Stibbe became a member of the World Economic Forum.
Stibbe has served as a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force (IAF) for more than four decades. He has received the IAF's Distinguished Aviator Medal.
Stibbe lives in Israel with his wife. He has three children and four grandchildren.
Connor, Stibbe, and Pathy have also partnered directly with research organisations in their regions on a range of human health and technology investigations, from ageing and chronic pain, to the first in-space demonstration of two-way holoportation, which is a mixed reality application using special lenses to project images via a hologram.
Connor has collaborated with Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic on research projects.
Pathy has collaborated with the Canadian Space Agency as well as the Montreal Children's Hospital.
Stibbe intends to perform scientific experiments co-ordinated by the Ramon Foundation and the Israel Space Agency, and to undertake educational activities from orbit to inspire Israeli children, youth, and educators.
The four crewmembers will conduct more than 25 different experiments aboard the space station. By conducting these experiments, the crew will collect data which could improve the understanding of human physiology on Earth and in orbit.