Axiom Astronaut Launch: How and When to Watch
A private astronaut mission to the International Space Station will start on Thursday. But unlike previous such flights, none of the passengers are wealthy space tourists who pay for their own trips to space.
Instead, three countries – Italy, Sweden and Turkey – are taking advantage of new commercial opportunities to send astronauts from government space programs to the orbital outpost. For Turkey it will be the country's first astronaut.
The private astronaut mission is the third for Houston-based Axiom Space, which sends paying customers for two-week stays on the International Space Station. In 2019, NASA opened its portion of the space station to visitors, a reversal of previous policy. (Russia has hosted a series of space tourists on the International Space Station since 2001.)
Here's what you need to know about Thursday's launch.
When is the launch and how can I watch it?
The launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for Thursday at 4:49 p.m. Eastern Time from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch was scheduled for Wednesday, but SpaceX decided to postpone it by a day. “The additional time will allow teams to conduct pre-launch checkouts and data analysis of the vehicle,” the company said.
Forecasts indicate an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions on the launch pad. If the launch is delayed, backup options will be available on Friday.
Axiom And SpaceX will stream coverage of the launch approximately two hours in advance. NASA television will follow the reporting at 3:45 p.m
Who is on this flight?
Crew members include Alper Gezeravci, a fighter pilot in the Turkish Air Force; Walter Villadei, a colonel in the Italian Air Force; and Marcus Wandt, a fighter jet and test pilot who previously served in the Swedish Air Force. Their governments have paid tens of millions of dollars for each astronaut's journey.
Mr Gezeravci will be Turkey's first astronaut, hoping to serve as an inspiration for future generations. “This space flight is not the destination of our journey,” he said at a press conference last week. “This is just the beginning of our journey.”
Mr. Villadei from Italy, the mission's pilot, has already been in space, but only for a few minutes. He was one of three members of the Italian Air Force who flew on a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight last June, conducting various experiments in biomedicine, fluid dynamics and materials sciences.
In 2022, Mr. Wandt applied to become an astronaut at the European Space Agency, but he was not one of the five people chosen to become a full-time career astronaut. But he was selected as one of the “reserve” astronauts, who will keep their current jobs but be eligible for future missions.
When Axiom approached Swedish officials about an available seat for this private astronaut mission, they agreed to purchase the ticket. ESA signed a one-year contract with Mr Wandt as project astronaut and provided training for the mission.
Michael López-Alegría, former NASA astronaut and now chief astronaut at Axiom, serves as the mission commander. NASA requires private astronaut missions to be led by a former NASA astronaut. Mr. López-Alegría flew three space shuttle missions and also spent seven months on the International Space Station from September 2006 to April 2007. He also commanded Axiom's first private astronaut mission in 2004.
When will they arrive at the space station?
If the mission launches Thursday, it will arrive at the International Space Station at 5:15 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday.
Do other countries also fly astronauts on commercial flights?
Saudi Arabia flew two astronauts to the International Space Station during the previous Axiom flight last year. During their mission they conducted several scientific experiments.
Similar to the Swedish arrangement for Mr Wandt, Poland has an astronaut, Slawosz Uznanski, another ESA reserve astronaut, lined up for a future Axiom flight. The United Kingdom Space Agency has also signed an agreement with Axiom to take British astronauts to orbit.
The United Arab Emirates purchased a flight on a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2019 for an eight-day stay on the International Space Station for one of its astronauts, Hazzaa Al-Mansoori. Axiom Space arranged a six-month stay on the space station for a second Emirati astronaut, Sultan Alneyadi, in 2023.