The private space company shared images of the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon capsule that will fly the Ax-1 mission, which is currently scheduled to be launched on Friday, April 8 from the Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The first privately launched SpaceX launch on the ISS
The images on SpaceX’s Twitter page show the Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon capsule called Axiom Space – the Houston-based company that paid SpaceX to send three paying customers along with former NASA astronaut Michael López – Alegría in the ISS. Customers will remain in the orbital laboratory for eight days, during which they will conduct several scientific experiments and conduct commercial activities. Take a look at our guide to how to broadcast the event live here. Crew Dragon Endeavor was attached to the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for the Ax-1 private mission. Source: SpaceX / Twitter Space tourists had previously flown to the ISS with Russian Soyuz launch vehicles, but this will be the first time a crew of space tourists has flown to the station without a government astronaut – López-Alegría has flown three Space Shuttle missions and a Space Shuttle mission, but is currently contracted with Axiom Space. This will actually be SpaceX’s second all-private space tourism mission, following the launch of Inspiration4 last year, which sent a purely political crew into Earth orbit for a total of four days.
SpaceX and NASA are targeting the Moon, Mars and beyond
The launch of the Ax-1 was originally scheduled for Sunday, April 3, but was delayed to allow a “wet dress rehearsal” for NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission to the adjacent Pad 39B. However, NASA’s rehearsal was delayed due to technical issues and will now take place after the Ax-1 mission. Artemis 1 will send NASA’s SLS launch vehicle around the Moon in preparation for Artemis II, which will send astronauts around the Moon, and then Artemis III, which will make the first human landings on the Moon. since 1972. Artemis III will use SpaceX to develop a Starship launch vehicle instead of SLS. Falcon 9 ready on Launch Pad 39A. The Ax-1 will be the first privately launched SpaceX launch on the ISS. Source: SpaceX / Twitter Later this month, SpaceX will also send another crew mission, the Crew-4, to the ISS, with the launch currently scheduled for April 20 on the Launch Pad 39A. This mission will send three NASA astronauts and Italian European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti to the ISS for a long stay. The Ax-1 is scheduled to launch on Friday, April 8 from the Launch Pad 39A. Source: SpaceX / Twitter Crew Dragon Endeavor, the reusable Dragon capsule used for the Ax-1 mission, has flown two ISS crew missions, including SpaceX’s first crew mission, the Demo-2. SpaceX recently announced that it has stopped production of new Crew Dragon capsules, as it now has four of the reusable spacecraft and wants to focus on bringing the reusable Starship launch vehicle into orbit for the Moon and Mars.
