It's billed as the first European commercial astronaut mission.
Axiom received a mission order from NASA in March to bring Ax-3 to the ISS, which was then manifested for no earlier than November 2023. Axiom did not name crew members at that time, butstated Axiom would submit four proposed crew members and two backups to the ISS Multilateral Crew Operations Panel, an international coalition of ISS members that approves crew assignments to the orbiting complex.
Ax-3's crew will spend the next several months in training for a 14-day mission,"to familiarize the private astronauts with systems, procedures, and emergency preparedness for the space station and the Dragon spacecraft," NASA officials stated. Training was expected to begin no earlier than spring 2023.
Axiom is allowed to run missions to the ISS under a reimbursable Space Act agreement with NASA. Axiom is required to pay NASA"for services to enable the mission," the agency's release stated. Examples include using training and launch facilities at NASA’sAxiom's mission-specific order for Ax-3 specifies it will pay NASA for services"such as crew supplies, cargo delivery to space, storage, and other in-orbit resources for daily use," the agency stated.
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