Ax-3 mission lifts 4 European private astronauts for International Space Station rendezvous
In a historic milestone, Ax-3, the first all-European private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, launched Thursday afternoon under thinly clouded skies, sending Turkey's first astronaut into low-Earth orbit.
"It's the new era of the golden age of space adventurism," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a pre-launch Axiom Space interview overlooking the agency's press site.
The Ax-3 astronaut quartet lifted off at 4:49 p.m. EST aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket at pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The launch was the Space Coast's first crewed mission of 2024.
The Axiom Space astronauts: commander Michael López-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut and dual American-Spanish citizen; mission specialist Alper Gezeravc? of Turkey; mission specialist Marcus Wandt of Sweden, a European Space Agency astronaut; and pilot Walter Villadei, an Italian Air Force colonel.
"Look at the international cooperation on the space station. Look at, now, the commercial operation on the space station, as evidenced by this flight here today," Nelson said.
Next, the Dragon should dock autonomously with the ISS as early as 4:19 a.m. Saturday, NASA reported. The hatches between Dragon and the space station should open after 6 a.m., and the Ax-3 crew will receive a welcoming ceremony and start their 14-day mission. The crew will conduct more than 30 scientific experiments, including microgravity research.
The Ax-3 crew is scheduled to depart the ISS on Feb. 3 — weather permitting — for a return trek to Earth via oceanic splashdown off the Florida coast.
Based in Houston, Axiom Space has previously sent two private astronaut crews to the ISS. López-Alegría is now the first astronaut to soar into space aboard a Dragon capsule twice.
"We want to get out of low-Earth orbit. We want to go and explore the cosmos. And so, the more that we can bring commercial business off the face of the Earth up to low-Earth orbit ... and for example, replace the International Space Station when it ages out in 2030 with a commercial space station," Nelson said during the interview.
Ax-3 was initially scheduled for launch Wednesday, but Axiom Space officials said that attempt was scrubbed to allow "additional time for teams to complete pre-launch checkouts and data analysis, including of the parachute system energy modulator."
For the latest launch schedule updates from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Ax-3 astronauts launch on SpaceX rocket from Kennedy Space Center
