First private astronaut team starts late to the ISS: "We are not space tourists"

Created: 03/30/2022, 13:41

By: Magdalena von Zumbusch

The John F. Kennedy Space Center in the US state of Florida is the starting point for the planned mission to the ISS.

© Marc Rasmus/ Imago

"We are not space tourists": The first private astronaut team starts a few days later than planned for the ISS.

The plan is not a space vacation, but work.

Washington - The start of the first private mission to the International Space Station (ISS), which was actually planned for Sunday, has been postponed by a few days.

The "Ax-1" mission should start a few days later than planned from the Cape Canaveral Cosmodrome in Florida.

First private mission to the ISS postponed: reason not yet known

The privately organized "Ax-1" mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is now scheduled to take place next Wednesday (April 6) instead of last Sunday, the organizers said.

A reason for the postponement has not yet been given.

In any case, the crew was "ready to fly" and excited: They felt "like children in a candy store", according to López-Alegría, the commander of the mission.

The "Ax-1" mission is the first all-private crew - consisting of the Spanish-American astronaut Michael López-Alegría, as well as the US entrepreneur Larry Connor, the Israeli entrepreneur and pilot Eytan Stibbe and the Canadian investor Mark Pathy.

The mission to the ISS is organized by the private company Axiom, together with NASA

The whole thing is organized by the private space company Axiom in cooperation with the US space agency Nasa, and the flight will be in a "Crew Dragon" from Elon Musk's company SpaceX.

The four Axiom planes are to remain on the ISS for around a week and carry out scientific experiments there.

There have been individual private guests on the ISS space station in the past, but for the first time a whole private crew is coming: The four-person "Ax-1" mission is scheduled to last around a week.

According to media reports, the crew members each paid around 55 million dollars (around 50 million euros) for the flight.

Commander of the private ISS mission is an ex-Nasa astronaut

The 63-year-old Spanish-American astronaut Michael López-Alegría has been in space four times.

The forthcoming fifth space flight has a special meaning for the former NASA astronaut.

"It feels like we're standard bearers," López-Alegría said at a recent press conference.

"I thought NASA training would definitely become routine for me, but so much had changed on the ISS and I had forgotten the rest, so I had to start all over again," he says of his preparation for the mission .

The first private mission to the ISS is supposed to get work done: "We are not space tourists"

Axiom boss Michael Suffredini comments on the purpose of the mission: "They don't fly up there to stick their noses to the window.

They fly up there to do important scientific work.” 26 experiments are planned, says Kathy Lueders, a NASA employee.

"Our crew members are very excited for this private astronaut team to come up," she says.

Michael López-Alegría also emphasizes that the crew has work to do.

“We are not space tourists.

I think space tourism has an important role to play, but that's not the point here.

This is definitely not a vacation for my crew members.”

Video: The German astronaut Mathias Maurer is currently also on the ISS

On the ISS, the crew will meet, among others, the German astronaut Matthias Maurer, who has been on the ISS since November and is scheduled to stay until the end of April.

Founded by a former NASA executive, Axiom is aimed at the space market

Working with Axiom is important for everyone involved.

The company, founded in 2016 in Houston, Texas, by former Nasa manager Suffredini and Iranian-American entrepreneur Kam Ghaffarian sees itself as a future major player in the space market.

It is planning its own commercial space station and has already been commissioned by NASA to build a commercial ISS module.

"This is now the very first of probably hundreds of missions over the next decade," Suffredini said.

In view of the Ukraine war: tensions with Russian segment of the space station are avoided

"It doesn't feel very different to fly for a company or for a country," says Commander López-Alegría.

"Our focus is always security and the success of the mission." However, the "Ax-1" mission now falls at a time of extreme tension between Russia and the West in view of the Ukraine war, which can also be felt on the ISS.

The crew did not train in Russia and not with regard to the Russian segment of the space station, says López-Alegría - and is diplomatic.

Under no circumstances do you want to disrupt operations on the space station.

"We are very aware that we are guests on the ISS," says the commander of the mission.

(dpa)