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Exciting news! The launch of Axiom Space’s Ax-3 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has been pushed to tomorrow at 4:49 p.m. EST. The mission will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
SpaceX decided to delay the launch to allow teams to complete pre-launch checkouts and data analysis on the vehicle, in this case a Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Be sure to watch the live launch on Space.com from NASA, SpaceX, and Axiom Space, with coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. EST on Jan. 18.
Related: Meet the 4 astronauts of SpaceX’s Ax-3 launch for Axiom Space
The Ax-3 mission will carry a four-person, all-European crew to the ISS. The crew will be led by Ax-3 mission commander and former NASA astronaut Michael “LA” López-Alegría, accompanied by mission specialists Walter Villadei, Marcus Wandt, and Alper Gezeravcı.
The crew will spend around two weeks aboard the ISS conducting more than 30 science experiments, Axiom Space says.
“Data collected on ground before and after the mission as well as in flight will impact understanding of human physiology on Earth and on orbit, as well as advance scientific understanding, harness opportunities for industrial advancements and develop technologies for humanity’s progress,” the company stated in a mission description.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft flying to the ISS for this mission, named Freedom, has carried astronauts to and from the orbital lab on two previous missions: NASA’s Crew-4 in 2022 and Axiom Space’s Ax-2 in May 2023.
As its name suggests, this is the third private mission flown by Axiom Space. The company aims to help build a thriving economy in low Earth orbit, by both flying private astronaut missions to the ISS and eventually building its own private space station.
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