Axiom Space launches SpaceX rocket with four private persons to ISS – IT Pro – News

Axiom Space has successfully completed the first phase of the Ax-1 manned space flight. It is the first mission to the ISS in which only private persons are transported. At roughly 5:17 PM Dutch time, the actual launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket began.

The team consists entirely of private individuals; three civilians and former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría as leader. He has already completed four space flights and is now CEO of the Texas Axiom Space. The crew will stay on board the ISS for eight days to do ‘innovative research’. The three private persons reportedly had to pay more than 50 million euros to be allowed to join Ax-1.

Ax-1 is the company’s first manned spaceflight. The launch took place from NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The space mission is facilitated by SpaceX. Ax-1 uses a reusable Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX. This particular thruster has been used four times before on other missions and serves as the initial motive power for the Crew Dragon, a module on top of the rocket that houses the four crew members.

Roughly twelve minutes after the launch of the Falcon 9, the last piece of the thruster was successfully disconnected. The thruster has meanwhile successfully landed on the landing pad floating somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. The Crew Dragon with crew is currently flying at roughly 27,000 kilometers per hour to the ISS, where the module must eventually connect autonomously to the space station.

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