Watch Axiom Space send crew of 4 to the International Space Station in historic mission

This mission should convince you that we have entered a new era of human spaceflight. The first fully private crewed mission to the International Space Station will be launched by Houston-based startup Axiom Space on Friday, the start of a ten-day mission that will likely be the first of many for the company.

The Ax-1 mission will take off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:17 AM. The four-person crew will spend a total of eight days at the station.

The crew is made up of:

• Former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, who will act as commander of the mission. López-Alegría has completed four spaceflights, spent over 257 days in space, and logged 10 spacewalks totaling 67 hours and 40 minutes. He currently works as Axiom’s VP of business development.
• Real estate investor Larry Connor, who will be the mission pilot.
• Former Israeli pilot and investor Eytan Stibbe, who will act as a mission specialist.
• Canadian investor Mark Pathy, who will be the second mission specialist.

The exact price hasn't been released, but it's likely in the tens of millions, according to Michael Suffredini. The nature of the flight is scientific, and the crew will engage in a number of scientific experiments while aboard.

There is an important role for space tourism, but that is not what the company is about. He said that the crew are not space tourists.

A second mission to be led by former NASA astronauts is planned for early in the future.

The business of private spaceflight is only one of the things that Axiom does. The first commercial module on the International Space Station will go up in late 2024. The company wants to separate the modules and use them as a new station after the International Space Station retires.

This mission really represents a significant milestone for our plans for the development of a sustainable low Earth orbit economy.

The Googler who came to monetize space