U.S. launches another commercial astronaut mission to space station

SpaceX and Axiom Space launched the third private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, as part of NASA's efforts to open access to space.

The mission, codenamed Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3), is the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the ISS, according to NASA.

The Dragon spacecraft carrying the four-member crew blasted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at about 4:49 p.m. Eastern Time. Later, SpaceX confirmed the main engine cutoff and stage separation of its Falcon 9 rocket. The first stage booster of the rocket has landed at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The four-member crew are commander Michael López-Alegría with dual nationalities of the United States and Spain, pilot Walter Villadei of the Italian Air Force, and the two mission specialists – Alper Gezeravci of Türkiye and European Space Agency project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden.

The crew is now in orbit and on their way to the ISS, according to Axiom Space's live broadcast.

This mission marks a new era of opportunity for countries to join the international space community and access low-Earth orbit to advance exploration and research in microgravity, said Axiom Space. The mission was the third such flight organized by Houston-based Axiom over the past two years as the company builds on its business of putting astronauts sponsored by foreign governments and private enterprises into Earth orbit. The company charges its customers at least $55 million for each astronaut seat.

Plans for the Axiom-3 mission call for the crew to spend roughly 14 days in microgravity aboard the ISS conducting more than 30 scientific experiments, many of them focused on the effects of spaceflight on human health and disease.

If all goes smoothly, they will be welcomed aboard ISS early on Saturday by the seven members of the station's current regular crew - two Americans from NASA, one astronaut each from Japan and Denmark and three Russian cosmonauts.

In May 2023, Axiom-2 launched a guest team of two Americans and two Saudis, including Rayyanah Barnawi, a biomedical scientist who became the first Arab woman ever sent to orbit, on an eight-day mission to the ISS.

SpaceX, the privately funded rocket and satellite company of billionaire Elon Musk, provides Axiom's launch vehicles and crew capsules under contract, as it has for NASA missions to the ISS. SpaceX also runs mission control for its rocket launches from the company's headquarters near Los Angeles.

NASA, besides furnishing the launch site at Cape Canaveral, assumes responsibility for the astronauts once they rendezvous with the space station.

Axiom, an eight-year-old venture headed by NASA's former ISS program manager, is one of a handful of companies building a commercial space station of its own intended to eventually replace the 25-year-old ISS, which NASA expects to retire around 2030.

(With input from agencies)