The first-ever all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station is set to head for home on Monday.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four-man team of Houston-based startup company Axiom Space was scheduled to undock from the ISS after a two-week stay, orbiting 250 miles (420 km) above Earth, at about 9 pm EDT (0100 GMT Monday) to embark on a 16-hour return descent.
The Crew Dragon capsule lofted into orbit by the rocket docked with the ISS at about 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) on Saturday as the two space vehicles were flying roughly 250 miles (420 km) above the central Atlantic Ocean.
The final approach was delayed for about 45 minutes by a technical glitch with a video feed used to monitor the capsule’s rendezvous with the ISS, but it otherwise proceeded smoothly.
The multinational Axiom team is led by former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, who is the company’s vice president of business development. The other three crewmembers are paying customers — American Larry Connor, Canadian Mark Pathy, and Israeli Eytan Stibbe.
The Ax-1 launched atop Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on April 8 and arrived at the ISS a day later. The rocket was supposed to leave for Earth on April 19, but bad weather in the splashdown zone delayed the departure from the orbiting lab for a few days.
The delayed mission has impacted SpaceX’s next astronaut mission, the Crew-4 flight for NASA. SpaceX, the private rocket company founded by Tesla Inc electric carmaker CEO Elon Musk, has been contracted to fly three more Axiom astronaut missions to the ISS over the next two years.
Ax-1 marks the sixth human spaceflight SpaceX has launched in nearly two years, following four NASA astronaut missions to the ISS, plus the Inspiration 4 flight in September that sent an all-civilian crew into Earth orbit for the first time, though not to the space station.
Axiom charges customers $50 million to $60 million per seat, according to Mo Islam, head of research for the investment firm Republic Capital, which holds stakes in both Axiom and SpaceX.
Axiom also was selected by NASA in 2020 to build a new commercial addition to the space station, which a US-Russian-led consortium of 15 countries has operated for more than two decades.
(With Reuters inputs)
The first-ever all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station is set to head for home on Monday.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four-man team of Houston-based startup company Axiom Space was scheduled to undock from the ISS after a two-week stay, orbiting 250 miles (420 km) above Earth, at about 9 pm EDT (0100 GMT Monday) to embark on a 16-hour return descent.
The Crew Dragon capsule lofted into orbit by the rocket docked with the ISS at about 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) on Saturday as the two space vehicles were flying roughly 250 miles (420 km) above the central Atlantic Ocean.
The final approach was delayed for about 45 minutes by a technical glitch with a video feed used to monitor the capsule’s rendezvous with the ISS, but it otherwise proceeded smoothly.
The multinational Axiom team is led by former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, who is the company’s vice president of business development. The other three crewmembers are paying customers — American Larry Connor, Canadian Mark Pathy, and Israeli Eytan Stibbe.
The Ax-1 launched atop Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on April 8 and arrived at the ISS a day later. The rocket was supposed to leave for Earth on April 19, but bad weather in the splashdown zone delayed the departure from the orbiting lab for a few days.
The delayed mission has impacted SpaceX’s next astronaut mission, the Crew-4 flight for NASA. SpaceX, the private rocket company founded by Tesla Inc electric carmaker CEO Elon Musk, has been contracted to fly three more Axiom astronaut missions to the ISS over the next two years.
Ax-1 marks the sixth human spaceflight SpaceX has launched in nearly two years, following four NASA astronaut missions to the ISS, plus the Inspiration 4 flight in September that sent an all-civilian crew into Earth orbit for the first time, though not to the space station.
Axiom charges customers $50 million to $60 million per seat, according to Mo Islam, head of research for the investment firm Republic Capital, which holds stakes in both Axiom and SpaceX.
Axiom also was selected by NASA in 2020 to build a new commercial addition to the space station, which a US-Russian-led consortium of 15 countries has operated for more than two decades.
(With Reuters inputs)