2024-01-19 00:07:01
A SpaceX rocket took off this Thursday from Florida heading to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a private mission with four passengers on board, including a Swede, an Italian and the first Turk to go to space.
Named Ax-3, this mission is the third organized by the American company Axiom Space, in association with NASA, which allows the use of the station.
The launch took place as scheduled at 4:49 p.m. (9:49 p.m. GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in the southeastern United States.
The four crew members, who had been training for months, will arrive at the ISS on Saturday, where they will remain for around two weeks.
They are scheduled to carry out a series of scientific experiments at the station.
After allowing wealthy clients to realize their space dreams, Axiom Space now also welcomes people sponsored by national organizations.
This mission highlights the growing role of the private sector in supporting the space ambitions of countries that lack their own human flight program.
The Ax-2 mission had already allowed two Saudis supported by their government to remain on the ISS. This time, the crew includes Alper Gezeravci, a fighter pilot who has become the first Turk to cross the final border.
“We see this mission as a symbol of an increasingly powerful and entrenched Turkey,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week.
Swede Marcus Wandt is also on board, with support from the European Space Agency (ESA).
His role as a “project astronaut” at ESA allows him to participate in short-term missions with a fixed-term contract, unlike full-time astronauts, the European agency reported.
“I want to thank ESA for being bold and visionary, and for leading, together with Sweden and Axiom Space, in strengthening the European presence in space,” Wandt wrote on the X social network.
The crew is completed by Italian Walter Villadei, a member of his country’s air forces, who has already flown aboard a Virgin Galactic ship for a few minutes.
Finally, the Spanish-American Michael López-Alegría, former NASA astronaut, will be the mission commander, hired by Axiom Space to accompany the three clients.
The crew will join seven other people aboard the flying laboratory: two American astronauts, one Dane, one Japanese and three Russian cosmonauts.
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