• Axiom-1 The first Spaniard who went to space inaugurates the era of private astronauts

  • Artemis 1 This is how NASA prepares for its next big mission

After the last checks on Thursday, everything is ready at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral for the launch, this afternoon, of the first mission made up of 100% private astronauts.

Miguel López-Alegría, born in Spain and with American nationality, is the commander of the Axiom-1 (Ax-1) mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The veteran astronaut, who retired from NASA 10 years ago, is now also Axiom's vice president of business development.

The other crew members are American pilot Larry Connor and specialists Mark Pathy, from Canada, and Eytan Stibbe, from Israel.

They will travel in a Crew Dragon

spacecraft

powered by a

Falcon 9

rocket , both from Elon Musk's company SpaceX.

They are scheduled to arrive tomorrow at the ISS, where another seven crew members are waiting for them - three NASA astronauts, one from ESA and three Roscosmos cosmonauts.

Miguel López-Alegría, after the last proof testM.

LOPEZ-ALEGRÍA/AXIOM

In total, their trip will last 10 days, eight of which will be spent on the ISS, the orbital platform located 400 kilometers from Earth, carrying out 25 research experiments and tasks for educational purposes.

Once the separation of the first stage of the

Falcon 9

rocket occurs , it will return to Earth to try to make a controlled landing on a ship located in the Atlantic Ocean so that it can be used again.

Axiom-1 is the first mission launched by the private aerospace company Axiom, which aims to first take modules into space that will be integrated into the ISS, and in the future have its own independent space station that allows citizens, countries and companies private access to space.

For this reason, this Friday's mission is considered an important step in the development of a new business model in space.

Axiom plans to carry out another three launches with private crew members in the next two years.

The next, Ax-2, will be commanded by fellow veteran former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, now Axiom's Director of Manned Flight.

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