Axiom Space unveils AX-1 crew for a completely private SpaceX mission to ISS

A few investors join the first fully private flight to the International Space Station – not as funders, but as the passengers who fly along.

Houston-based start-up Axiom Space revealed on Tuesday that real estate investor Larry Connor and Canadian investor Mark Pathy will be flying on its upcoming AX-1 mission. The pair join former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, who will be the flight’s commander, and former Israeli fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe. Connor will be the pilot of the mission, making him the first private pilot on an orbital space flight.

Axiom signed a deal with SpaceX for the mission last year. Elon Musk’s company will not launch the all-private crew until January 2022, using a Crew Dragon capsule to take them to the space station. The mission is costly – $ 55 million per person – but will earn them an eight-day stay on the space station.

“Never has an entire crew been non-professional astronauts,” López-Alegría told CNBC. “This is really groundbreaking and I think it is very important that the mission is successful and safe because we are really paving the way for a lot of things that will happen after us.”

López-Alegría flew to space four times for NASA as a professional astronaut, but now works for Axiom. He will take them through about 15 weeks of training starting in the fall, pilot the spacecraft, and ensure the other three crew members “have a safe and productive time,” he said.

The AX-1 was originally scheduled for October 2021, but has been pushed back to early 2022. Axiom plans to fly “a few of these missions a year,” López-Alegría added, so future missions are on deck. There has been much speculation that the AX-1 would feature actor Tom Cruise, as NASA announced last year that it was teaming up with Cruise to film a movie on the ISS.

Connor has led the Connor Group since 2003, building the Ohio-based real estate investment company to more than $ 3 billion in assets. Pathy, who is about to become the 11th Canadian astronaut, is the CEO and Chairman of the family office fund MAVRIK Corp, as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Montreal-based public music company Stingray Group.

Stibbe would be the second Israeli astronaut – the first was Ilan Ramon, a payload specialist aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, who was killed in February 2003 when Columbia fell apart on its return. Stibbe was a good friend of Ramon’s.

While space tourism is an emerging sub-sector of the space industry, Axiom’s private passengers don’t fall into that category themselves.

“We absolutely don’t believe we are space tourists,” Connor told CNBC.

López-Alegría similarly emphasized that the 10-day mission is “100% no vacation for these guys.”

“They are really focused that this is a mission to promote a benefit to society, so they are all working on flight programs,” said Lopez-Alegria. “They partner with different institutions, hospitals and other research institutes, and also do outreach while they are up there.”

Each of the three has fact-finding missions that they will conduct on behalf of other organizations. Connor partners with the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. Meanwhile, Pathy is working with the Canadian Space Agency and the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Finally, Stibbe works on behalf of the Ramon Foundation and Israeli Space Agency.

“I volunteered to be a test subject,” Connor said. “We’re not going to be spectators; we’re going to do research and hopefully add some value for people.”

Connor and Pathy together witnessed SpaceX’s first launch, the Demo-2 mission in May, the first rocket launch they had both personally seen.

SpaceX developed Crew Dragon with heavy NASA funding, with the spacecraft built to fly astronauts to and from the ISS in low Earth orbit. SpaceX has launched two astronaut crews for NASA so far, including the first operational mission called Crew-1 in November.

While NASA helped develop, Musk’s company owns and operates the spacecraft and rocket – with Axiom managing the mission and preparing the astronauts to launch.

The AX-1 crew has yet to begin formal training, but Connor said they stopped by SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles to get a spacesuit and see the spacecraft.

“The Crew Dragon capsule, in terms of quality and professionalism, is simply outstanding,” said Connor. “And you can see that, [as a group SpaceX is] extraordinarily talented and committed to the mission. “

Connor stressed that “NASA and SpaceX have a remarkable safety record,” which he said he discussed with his family when considering the risk of flying to space.

“We got to the point where we are not only confident but comfortable that we can carry out both a worthwhile and a safe mission,” said Connor.

The AX-1 is expected to use SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft “Resilience” after returning from its current Crew-1 mission. While the company regularly lands and repurposes its Falcon 9 rocket boosters and Cargo Dragon capsules, AX-1 would likely be the first time reuse is introduced in a Crew Dragon spacecraft.

“I feel very comfortable with that,” said López-Alegría. “Reusability is something that has always made sense in manned space flights.”

At $ 55 million per seat, it’s not surprising that the private space’s initial crew is made up of wealthy individuals like Connor and Pathy. The former said it is “a legitimate question and concern” that some are criticizing private space flights as only for the ultra-rich.

“We have many domestic problems and challenges, but also international ones, but does that mean we should forget about the future?” Connor asked. “And when you’re really thinking about the future, I think space is the next big frontier, so shouldn’t we try to explore and pioneer in some ways?”

López-Alegría characterized the mission as “the first crack in the door to democratizing space,” followed closely by NASA’s decision in 2019 to allow private missions to visit the ISS. NASA will charge each person on board $ 35,000 per day as compensation for the necessary services such as food and data use.

“It’s not a very democratic demographic right now because of the cost of the flights, but we fully expect the costs to come down,” said López-Alegría. “At some point we will be able to offer these to the man-on-the-street. It will take a while, but that’s the goal, and you have to start somewhere.”

As for Connor, he asked critics of private space flights to “think long-term” up to 25 years or more.

“Is it going to be so unusual for people to go into space? I think and hope the answer will be no. So somebody has to get started, somebody has to do the exploration and set the standards and hopefully people will look that way,” Connor said. .

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