Three businessmen and a former astronaut took off on a SpaceX rocket on Friday for the first fully private mission to the International Space Station (ISS), where they will stay for just over a week. This Saturday, the first images of this private mission fell. Travelers have reached the ISS.
A SpaceX rocket blasted off Friday, April 8 at 11:17 a.m. local time (3:17 p.m. GMT) from Kennedy Space Center in sunny Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the first fully private mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
On board, three businessmen who paid tens of millions of dollars for the flight, accompanied by a former NASA astronaut, now an employee of the American company Axiom Space, which organizes the trip. The American space agency charges for the stay on board the station.
This Saturday, the first space images fell. The rocket reached the ISS in the morning. Upon arrival, the crew will receive a guided tour of the station.
© NASA TV
This is only the sixth time SpaceX has flown humans (the fifth to the ISS). The first flight took place less than two years ago. Axiom Space has reached an agreement for a total of four missions with SpaceX, and NASA has already formally approved the principle of a second, Ax-2.
For the American company, this is a first step towards an ambitious goal: the construction of its own space station. The first module of this private station should be launched in September 2024. The structure will first be attached to the ISS, before becoming autonomous when the latter is retired, a priori around 2030.
This movement to privatize low orbit is strongly encouraged by NASA, which wishes to generate income through these private missions, and in the long term, no longer have to manage the operation of a station, but rather rent the services of structures. private, in order to concentrate on distant exploration.
