SpaceX delivers private Axiom crew to the space station, carrying Saudi astronauts

SpaceX delivered different quartet of astronauts to the International Space Station connected Monday morning, connected a backstage formation that included authorities astronauts from Saudi Arabia arsenic the Arab kingdom leverages U.S. companies to expands its ambitions successful space. 

Axiom Space booked the astir week-long trip, known arsenic the Ax-2 mission, to the ISS with Elon Musk's company. SpaceX launched the 4 radical connected Sunday evening from Florida. Its Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and the company's Crew Dragon capsule "Freedom" reaching the ISS astir 16 hours later.

Ax-2 is commanded by retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson – who has spent much clip successful abstraction than immoderate different American oregon woman – and piloted by businessman and car racer John Shoffner, who purchased a spot connected the formation done Axiom. Whitson is besides Axiom's manager of quality spaceflight.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia bought the last 2 seats connected Axiom's mission, with Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali al-Qarni flying arsenic ngo specialists. Barnawi is the archetypal Saudi pistillate to alert successful space.

The ngo volition diagnostic a engaged slate of probe and exertion experiments, with implicit 20 antithetic subject investigations.

For SpaceX, the Ax-2 ngo is the company's 10th quality spaceflight. The institution has flown 7 government-booked unit missions and 3 backstage flights since launching astronauts for the archetypal clip successful May 2020.

The ngo featured the archetypal clip SpaceX returned a Falcon 9 booster to onshore backmost adjacent the motorboat site, alternatively than connected a vessel successful the ocean, aft a unit launch. The institution continues to grow the method capabilities of its fleet.

This was besides the 2nd motorboat for the company's reusable "Freedom" capsule, which antecedently carried NASA's Crew-4 ngo connected a six-month ngo to and from the ISS.

Axiom and SpaceX person not disclosed fiscal details astir the Ax-2 mission. NASA has antecedently disclosed that a SpaceX unit motorboat costs astir $55 cardinal per seat, truthful the terms for these backstage missions is expected to beryllium high. Axiom has booked 4 crewed flights from SpaceX to date.

Although SpaceX is providing the rocket and capsule, Axiom is starring the mission's absorption from grooming to the instrumentality to Earth.