The Ax-1 space mission arrives at the International Space Station

With a crew of four astronauts, the Ax-1 space mission successfully arrives at the International Space Station. It becomes the first mission of a private company to do so. ​

For the first time, a private mission arrives at the International Space Station (ISS): Ax-1. This project was planned by two private sector space companies, which were supported by NASA to take their project into space.

This mission took with it four astronauts of different nationalities who will carry out various experiments on the International Space Station. They are Michael López-Alegría, Larry Connot, Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe; of Hispanic-American, American, Canadian and Israeli nationality respectively.

Launch of the Ax-1 mission to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9 rocket is seen carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft along with the Ax-1 space mission. By NASA.

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These 4 astronauts join the resident crew on the ISS, Expedition 67, made up of NASA astronauts Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chariy and Kayla Barron, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurery and astronauts from the Russian agency Roscosmos: Oleg Artemyev, Sergey Korsokovy and Denis Matveev. Thus, there are 11 astronauts on board the ISS. 

The launch

The Ax-1 mission took off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On April 8 at 3:17 p.m. (GMT) the rocket took off from Earth to the International Space Station, at 12:40 p.m. (GMT) it successfully reaches the station.
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It should be noted that there were complications during the outward journey. First of all, there are the flaws in the cameras installed on the mission, a problem that prevented the entire space trip from being seen remotely; likewise, there was a one-hour delay in arrival at the international complex.

​On the return trip to Earth, the mission capsule is expected to land in waters near Florida, at one of seven locations set by NASA. 

Who participated?

This project was led by the Texas company Axiom with the help of SpaceX, an Elon Musk company. The Ax-1 mission used a Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon Endeavor capsule, both belonging to Space X. Once on the International Space Station, the capsule docked autonomously with the ISS's Harmony module.

This partnership was made possible by commercial cargo and crew programs run by the US government; these agreements allow the incorporation of private companies in NASA projects.