The first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station is set to head home on Monday.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying a four-member team from Houston-based startup company Axiom Space was scheduled to undock from the ISS after a two-week stay, 250 miles (420 km) above Earth, at approximately 9 a.m. EDT (0100 ) was on. GMT Monday) to go to the 16 hour return descent.
The Crew Dragon capsule reached orbit by rocket with the ISS on Saturday at approximately 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), as the two space vehicles were flying about 250 miles (420 km) above central. Atlantic Ocean,
The final approach was delayed by about 45 minutes due to a technical glitch with the video feed used to monitor the capsule’s rendezvous with the ISS, but it otherwise proceeded smoothly.
The multinational Axiom team is led by former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegria, the company’s vice president of business development. The other three crew members are paying customers – American Larry Connor, Canadian Mark Pethe, and Israeli Ayton Stibbe.
The X-1 launched on April 8 aboard Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and reached the ISS a day later. The rocket was supposed to leave for Earth on April 19, but bad weather in the splashdown zone delayed departure from the orbiting lab for a few days.
The delayed mission has affected the Crew-4 flight for SpaceX’s next astronaut mission, NASA. SpaceX, the private rocket company founded by Tesla Inc. electric car maker CEO Elon Musk, has been contracted to fly three more Axiom astronaut missions to the ISS over the next two years.
The Ax-1 marks the sixth manned spacecraft SpaceX has launched in nearly two years, alongside four of NASA’s astronaut missions to the ISS, as well as the Inspiration 4 flight in September that brought an all-civilian crew to Earth for the first time. sent into orbit, though not the space station.
Axiom charges clients $50 million to $60 million per seat, according to Mo Islam, head of research at investment firm Republic Capital, which holds stakes in both Axiom and SpaceX.
Axiom was also selected by NASA in 2020 to build a new commercial addition to the space station, which has been operated by a US-Russian-led consortium of 15 countries for more than two decades.
(with Reuters inputs)