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Company type | Private incorporated company |
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Industry | Aerospace |
Founded | 2016 |
Founder | Michael T. Suffredini Kam Ghaffarian [1] |
Headquarters | Houston, Texas United States |
Key people |
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Services | |
Number of employees | 790 (2023) |
Website | axiomspace |
Footnotes /references [2] |
Axiom Space, Inc., also known as Axiom Space, is an American privately funded space infrastructure developer headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Founded in 2016 by Michael T. Suffredini and Kam Ghaffarian, the company first flew a spaceflight in 2022: Axiom Mission 1, the first commercially crewed private spaceflight to the International Space Station. The company aims to own and operate the world's first commercial space station in the late 2020s. [3] [4] The company's employees include former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden [5] and astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria, Peggy Whitson, Brent W. Jett Jr and Koichi Wakata. [6]
The company sent its first commercial astronauts into orbit in 2022. It also plans human spaceflight for government-funded and commercial astronauts engaging in in-space research, in-space manufacturing, and space exploration. [7]
Axiom Space CEO Michael T. Suffredini was previously the program manager for the International Space Station from 2005 to 2015. [8] After retiring from NASA, Suffredini and Kam Ghaffarian started Axiom Space to target the emerging commercial spaceflight market. Ghaffarian is an engineer and entrepreneur who sold his company, Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc., a large NASA contractor, to KBR in 2018. [9] Ghaffarian is also the Executive Chairman of Quantum Space.
The company was selected by NASA to provide the first commercial destination module on the International Space Station. [10] Axiom Space also announced in March 2020 a contract with SpaceX to fly commercial astronauts to the International Space Station via Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon scheduled for March 2022; the launch took place on 8 April 2022 [11] and the crew returned on 25 April. [12]
The company had 110 employees as of February 2021, [13] with offices located in Houston and Los Angeles.[ citation needed ]
In 2020, as part of the broader Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) cislunar initiative, NASA awarded Axiom a US$140 million contract to provide at least one habitable spacecraft to attach to the International Space Station. [10] Axiom Space was the only selected proposal from the solicitation process due in 2019. [14] Bigelow Aerospace did not submit a proposal and has subsequently ceased operations. [15]
The modules constructed by Axiom Space are designed to attach to the Harmony forward port with the intent to demonstrate an ability to commercially provide services and products in the low Earth orbit economy. The "Axiom Segment" of the station was planned, as of January 2020 [update] , to include a node module to act as a connector, a research and manufacturing facility, a crew habitat, and a "large-windowed" module for viewing the Earth. [16]
Axiom Station intends to have its spacecraft modules individually launched and assembled in orbit, first attaching to the International Space Station. Before ISS retirement (and atmospheric reentry), the company plans to detach its modules and commence orbit on its own as Axiom Station. [17] [18] Axiom Space renderings from 2020 illustrate how modules might be berthed and relocated on the ISS by the Mobile Servicing System, specifically the Canadarm2. Canadarm2 might also continue its operations on the Axiom Space Station after the retirement of the ISS in the late 2020s. [19] [20] The company is currently targeting late 2026 for the launch of its first module to the ISS and the late-2020s for station completion. [21] [3]
Axiom Space plans to conduct astronaut training for commercial astronauts, to host governments and commercial partners. Up to three Axiom Space modules could attach to the International Space Station. The first module is expected to dock to the forward port of Harmony, which would require relocation of the PMA-2. Axiom Space plans to attach up to two additional modules to its initial core module and send private astronauts to visit the modules. [1]
The interior of Axiom Station was designed in 2018 by French architect Philippe Starck. Renderings of the habitat show a chamber with walls that are covered with tufted padding and studded with hundreds of colour-changing LEDs. [22] Axiom Space has publicly stated an intent to maintain at least one astronaut in the station continuously,[ when? ] who will be assigned to take care of research projects and station repairs. [23] This includes amenities like high-speed Wi-Fi, video screens, picture windows, and a glass-walled cupola. [24]
Axiom Space provides human spaceflight services to people, corporations, and space agencies. Missions to the International Space Station are offered by Axiom Space, with a 10-day mission including 15 weeks of training. [25] In addition to training, Axiom Space states that the packages include mission planning, hardware development, life support, medical support, crew provisions, hardware and safety certifications, on-orbit operations, and mission management. [26] Missions could extend for longer periods depending on the focus of the spaceflight. Former NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Michael López-Alegría are employees and serve as commanders of missions. [27] [28]
In June 2020, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said NASA was involved with the filming of a Tom Cruise movie to the ISS [29] with SpaceX expected to be the transportation partner for the flights. [30]
Axiom Space intends to commercialize microgravity research and development, using the ISS National Lab until its modules are operational.[ citation needed ]
In early June 2021, Axiom Space announced a deal with SpaceX which added three additional crewed flights to the ISS, for a total of four. [31]
Ax-2 was a private crew mission to the ISS. The flight launched on 21 May 2023 and sent four people to the ISS. [38] On 25 May 2021, Axiom Space announced that former NASA Astronaut Peggy Whitson would be the mission commander and John Shoffner would be the mission pilot. [39] Two astronauts from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ali Alqarni [40] [41] and Rayyanah Barnawi [42] [43] were also on board as mission specialists.
Ax-3 was a private crew mission to the ISS. The flight launched on 18 January 2024 and sent four people to the ISS. NASA Astronaut Michael López-Alegría was the mission commander and Walter Villadei was the mission pilot. Two astronauts from Turkey and Sweden, Alper Gezeravcı and Marcus Wandt were also on board as mission specialists.
Ax-4 is a planned private crew mission to the ISS. The flight will launch no earlier than spring 2025 and carry four people to the ISS, [44] including veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson. The crew will include a Polish, a Hungarian and an Indian astronaut. [45]
In January 2022, the Axiom Space Mission Control Center (or MCC-A) completed its first on-orbit science payload operation on the ISS. At this time, MCC-A, located at Axiom's HQ in Houston, TX, was registered as a payload operations site. In April 2022, MCC-A supported a record number of on-orbit science payload operations and live on-orbit events for Axiom's Ax-1 mission to ISS, which was the first all-private mission to the ISS. In late 2022, Axiom's MCC-A became a certified ISS partner Mission Control Center, connected to NASA's ISS program, joining a small handful of International partner MCCs and SpaceX's MCC. In May 2023, Axiom Space flew their second mission to ISS, Ax-2, supported entirely out of MCC-A by an Axiom Space flight control team of 6-10 flight controllers. [46]
Mission | Launch date (UTC) | Landing date (UTC) | Crew | Duration | Vehicle | Remarks | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Axiom Mission 1 | 8 April 2022 [47] | 25 April 2022 | 17 days | Crew Dragon Endeavour [48] | First Crew Dragon flight contracted by Axiom Space. First fully private flight to the ISS, carrying Michael López-Alegría as Axiom professional astronaut, [49] Eytan Stibbe to conduct educational experiments for a 17-day trip, [50] [51] Larry Connor and Mark Pathy, both heading investment companies. [49] | Success | |
Axiom Mission 2 | 21 May 2023 [52] | 31 May 2023 | 10 days | Crew Dragon Freedom | Second Crew Dragon flight contracted by Axiom Space. [54] Second fully private flight to the ISS, carrying Peggy Whitson as Axiom professional astronaut. | Success | |
Axiom Mission 3 | 18 January 2024 [55] | 9 February 2024 | 21 days | Crew Dragon Freedom | Third Crew Dragon flight contracted by Axiom Space, astronauts are three military pilots whose flight is financed by their respective nations (Italy, Turkey and Sweden). | Success | |
Axiom Mission 4 | NET Q2 2025 [44] | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | 14-21 days [57] | Crew Dragon | Planned |
On 1 June 2022, NASA announced it had selected Axiom Space to develop and provide astronauts with next generation spacesuit and spacewalk systems to first test and later use outside the International Space Station, as well as on the lunar surface for the crewed Artemis missions, and prepare for human missions to Mars. [58] [59]
The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station assembled and maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA, Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), and CSA (Canada). The ISS is the largest space station ever built. Its primary purpose is to perform microgravity and space environment experiments.
A space station is a spacecraft which remains in orbit and hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring habitation facilities. The purpose of maintaining a space station varies depending on the program. Most often space stations have been research stations, but they have also served military or commercial uses, such as hosting space tourists.
Michael López-Alegría is an astronaut, test pilot and commercial astronaut with dual nationality, American and Spanish; a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and one International Space Station mission. He is known for having performed ten spacewalks so far in his career, presently holding the second longest all-time EVA duration record and having the fifth-longest spaceflight of any American at the length of 215 days; this time was spent on board the ISS from September 18, 2006, to April 21, 2007. López-Alegría commanded Axiom-1, the first ever all-private team of commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station, which launched on April 8, 2022, and spent just over 17 days in Earth's orbit.
Peggy Annette Whitson is an American biochemistry researcher, and astronaut working for Axiom Space. She retired from NASA in 2018, after serving as Chief Astronaut. Over all her missions, Whitson has a total of 665 days in space, more than any other American or woman.
Koichi Wakata is a Japanese engineer and an astronaut working for Axiom Space. He retired from JAXA in 2024. Wakata is a veteran of four NASA Space Shuttle missions, a Russian Soyuz mission, and a long-duration stay on the International Space Station. During a nearly two-decade career in spaceflight, he has logged more than five hundred days in space. During Expedition 39, he became the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station. Wakata flew on the Soyuz TMA-11M/Expedition 38/Expedition 39 long duration spaceflight from 7 November 2013 to 13 May 2014. During this spaceflight he was accompanied by Kirobo, the first humanoid robot astronaut. As of 2023, he is the longest active astronaut in the world.
The International Space Station programme is tied together by a complex set of legal, political and financial agreements between the fifteen nations involved in the project, governing ownership of the various components, rights to crewing and utilisation, and responsibilities for crew rotation and resupply of the International Space Station. It was conceived in September 1993 by the United States and Russia after 1980s plans for separate American (Freedom) and Soviet (Mir-2) space stations failed due to budgetary reasons. These agreements tie together the five space agencies and their respective International Space Station programmes and govern how they interact with each other on a daily basis to maintain station operations, from traffic control of spacecraft to and from the station, to utilisation of space and crew time. In March 2010, the International Space Station Program Managers from each of the five partner agencies were presented with Aviation Week's Laureate Award in the Space category, and the ISS programme was awarded the 2009 Collier Trophy.
The Boeing Starliner is a class of partially reusable spacecraft designed to transport crew to and from the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. It is manufactured by Boeing, with the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) of NASA as the lead customer. The spacecraft consists of a crew capsule that can be reused on up to ten missions and an expendable service module.
Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by American space company SpaceX, for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. There are two variants of the Dragon spacecraft: Crew Dragon, capable of ferrying four crewmembers, and Cargo Dragon, a replacement for the original Dragon 1 used to carry freight to and from space. The spacecraft consists of a reusable space capsule and an expendable trunk module. The spacecraft launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket and the capsule returns to Earth through splashdown. It has proven to be the most cost effective spacecraft in history to be used by NASA.
Axiom Mission 1 was a privately funded and operated crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission was operated by Axiom Space out of Axiom's Mission Control Center MCC-A in Houston, Texas. The flight launched on 8 April 2022 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft used was a SpaceX Crew Dragon. The crew consisted of Michael López-Alegría, an American born in Spain and a professionally trained astronaut hired by Axiom, Eytan Stibbe from Israel, Larry Connor from the United States, and Mark Pathy from Canada.
The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) provides commercially operated crew transportation service to and from the International Space Station (ISS) under contract to NASA, conducting crew rotations between the expeditions of the International Space Station program. American space manufacturer SpaceX began providing service in 2020, using the Crew Dragon spacecraft, and NASA plans to add Boeing when its Boeing Starliner spacecraft becomes operational no earlier than 2025. NASA has contracted for six operational missions from Boeing and fourteen from SpaceX, ensuring sufficient support for ISS through 2030.
Crew Dragon Endeavour is a Crew Dragon space capsule manufactured and operated by SpaceX and used by NASA's Commercial Crew Program. As of 2024 it has successfully completed four crewed missions to the International Space Station (ISS), and is currently conducting a fifth. It was first launched into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket on 30 May 2020 and successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission. This was the first crewed flight test of a Dragon capsule, carrying Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on first crewed orbital spaceflight from the United States since STS-135 in July 2011 and the first crewed orbital spaceflight by a private company. On 2 August 2020 it returned to Earth. The spacecraft was named by Hurley and Behnken after the Space ShuttleEndeavour, aboard which they first flew into space during the STS-127 and STS-123 missions, respectively. The name Endeavour is also shared by the command module of Apollo 15. The spacecraft's second mission, Crew-2, ended 8 November 2021 after having spent almost 200 days in orbit. Crew Dragon Endeavour set the record for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crew vehicle previously set by her sibling Crew Dragon Resilience on 2 May 2021. Collectively, Endeavour has spent over 450 days in orbit, the most time in orbit by a crewed spacecraft, surpassing Space Shuttle Discovery.
Axiom Orbital Segment or Axiom Segment are the planned modular components of the International Space Station (ISS) designed by Houston, Texas-based Axiom Space for commercial space activities. Axiom Space gained initial NASA approval for the venture in January 2020. Axiom Space was later awarded the contract by NASA on February 28, 2020. This orbital station will be separated from the ISS to become a modular space station, Axiom Station, after the ISS is decommissioned.
Axiom Mission 2 was a private crewed spaceflight operated by Axiom Space. Ax-2 was launched on 21 May 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon 9, successfully docking with the International Space Station (ISS)on 22 May. After eight days docked to the ISS, the Dragon crew capsule Freedom undocked and returned to Earth twelve hours later.
SpaceX Crew-6 was the sixth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the ninth overall crewed orbital flight. The mission launched on 2 March 2023 at 05:34:14 UTC, and it successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) on 3 March 2023 at 06:40 UTC. The Crew-6 mission transported four crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). Two NASA astronauts, a United Arab Emirates astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut were assigned to the mission. The two NASA astronauts are Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg. The cosmonaut, Andrey Fedyaev, was reassigned from Soyuz MS-23. Sultan Al Neyadi was the commander of the United Arab Emirates' mission on the flight.
Crew Dragon Freedom is a Crew Dragon spacecraft manufactured and operated by SpaceX and used by NASA's Commercial Crew Program. On 27 April 2022, it was launched to transport four personnel to the International Space Station as part of the SpaceX Crew-4 mission, which was a part of ISS Expedition 67.
Axiom Mission 3 was a private spaceflight to the International Space Station. The flight launched on 18 January 2024, and lasted for 21 days, successfully splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. It was operated by Axiom Space and used a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The booster, B1080, had previously flown Axiom-2, among other high-profile missions.
Axiom Mission 4 is a private spaceflight to the International Space Station. The flight will be launched no earlier than Spring 2025 and will last 14 days. It will be operated by Axiom Space and use a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Ondler said in the briefing that the first of those modules is now scheduled to launch to the ISS at the end of 2026, about a year later than the company previously announced.
expected to spend up to 14 days docked to the space station … The order also accommodates up to seven contingency days aboard the space station.