23 Jan 2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Dragon spacecraft lifts off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. Axiom Space’s Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) is the third all-private astronaut mission to the space station, sending crew members Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Walter Villadei of Italy, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı of Turkey, and ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden into orbit.

The Ax-3 crew will spend about two weeks conducting microgravity research, educational outreach, and commercial activities aboard the space station.