We might soon see a space-station mission that will involve people who aren’t professional astronauts. NASA has roped in aerospace startup Axiom Space for a mission to send four people to the International Space Station (ISS) by January 2022.
None of them is a working astronaut and Axiom has chosen its vice president, former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, to lead the crew. The other three members of the crew are real-estate investor Larry Connor, Canadian investor Mark Pathy, and former Israeli fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe.
55 million dollar trip
The mission called Axiom Mission 1 (AX-1) will send the crew aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship. The members have shelled out $55 million for the trip to space. The space agency will make the members undergo medical tests before approving their travel. Besides, NASA will also be paying Axiom $1.69 million to bring scientific samples from the ISS back to Earth in cold storage.
The Axiom crew is scheduled to stay on the ISS for 8 days and if things go according to the plan, they will be the first private astronauts to go to the ISS. Axiom aims to send private astronauts to ISS twice a year, though it may have to compete with other private space companies to make it happen.
Axiom to build its space station
Axiom also plans to build its orbital outpost called AxStation, which would first be an extension to the ISS before completely detaching later. NASA will be bidding adieu to the ISS in 2030, steering it into the Pacific Ocean. The space agency will hopefully find an alternative by that time.
AX-1 is the first step towards making a commercial economy in low-Earth orbit. This will also open the space doors for companies flying people to space and eventually building their own space stations.
“The dream is really to allow everyone access to space. And this is a pretty exciting starting point here,” said Dana Weigel, ISS deputy manager. “Who knows what innovations and creative ideas will arise now that we’re able to finally share our mission with industry and private citizens who want to visit the station.”
