CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX and Axiom launched the first manned spaceflight of 2024, and the third private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Thursday afternoon.
The Axiom Mission 3, shortened to Ax-3, lifted off at 4:49 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The four-man crew hails entirely from Europe, consisting of: commander Michael López-Alegría of Spain, pilot Walter Villadei of Italy, mission specialist Alper Gezeravcı of Turkey, and ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden.
According to Axiom’s mission page, this is the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the ISS. Though it is a private enterprise, the crew is set to conduct more than 30 different government-sponsored experiments developed for microgravity over the course of their roughly two-week stay.
Following Thursday’s launch, assuming all goes well, Ax-3 is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 5:15 a.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 20.
NASA’s mission responsibility is for integrated operations, which begins during the spacecraft’s approach to the International Space Station, continues during the crew’s stay aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting science, education, and commercial activities, and concludes once Dragon exits the area of the space station.
According to SpaceX, The Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth orbit, and beyond. It is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth, and is the first private spacecraft to take humans to the space station.