Axiom Space has managed to launch the AX-1 mission, which took the first personal astronaut crew to the International Space Station. The quartet departed from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at the Dragon Spacex capsule, which was driven by Falcon 9 rocket 9. Both the first stage and the dragon was separated without problems.
The spacecraft is expected to dock in the ISS on April 9 at around 6:45 ET. The opening of Palka is scheduled at around 9:30 a.m. and, everything goes well, the welcoming ceremony will occur around 10:05 a.m The crew member was the commander and former Astronaut NASA Michael López-Alegría and three business people: Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy. The four of the four is scheduled to spend eight days on the ISS, where they will take part in scientific research, outreach and commercial activities. They will also take some scientific samples for NASA.
Axiom plans to make a further private mission to the ISS for the next few years. The company has a contract with NASA to build the first commercial module for the space station. It is also expected to build modules (see-1) containing film studios and sports arena, which can be attached to ISS as soon as December 2024. Axiom Station (with PE-1 is still connected) scheduled to be broken down from the ISS. In 2028 and operated independently.