NASA Chooses Old Partner For Its Second Private Crewed Space Mission

NASA picked Axiom Space earlier this year as its partner for the first private crewed mission that is set to take off in January next year.

NASA has announced the selection of Axiom Space as the agency’s partner for its second private crewed mission to the International Space Station that currently has a launch window between the fall season of 2022 and early 2023. Back in May this year, the space agency inked a deal with Axiom Space for the first private astronaut mission to the space station that is slated to take off in January next year. Going by the name Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1), it will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will remain docked to the orbiting laboratory for a duration of eight days.

As part of the mission, NASA will be providing the requisite space cargo, crew supplies, and other in-orbit resources that go towards daily use, while Axiom Space will be tasked with safely returning with scientific samples. The Axiom mission marks a new direction for NASA and its space activities, now that the agency has also opened the International Space Station for commercial activities. Plus, clients like SpaceX and Blue Origin are also racing against each other to win lucrative long-term contracts.

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Ahead of its first private space station mission, NASA has already announced that Axiom Space will also be helping launch its second private mission to the International Space Station. The unimaginatively named Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) will last 14 days, and at the moment, its concept predominantly involves outreach activities and scientific research. Axiom Space will be coming up with a list of private astronauts that NASA will then evaluate on multiple parameters, including medical readiness, of course.

Space Privatization Is On A Roll

“NASA evaluated the mission proposal based on Axiom’s ability to execute it successfully, NASA’s ability to support it, and its contribution to the agency’s mission and goal of low-Earth orbit commercialization,” the agency said in its press release. The Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) will follow NASA’s updated pricing policy that came into effect earlier this year, setting a comprehensive baseline standard for the costs incurred based on mass, duration, and other mission parameters. For example, space station crew time charges have been set at $5,200,000 per mission, upmass cargo will set clients back by $20,000 per kilogram, and daily food expenses per head are set at $2,000. When it comes to private space joyrides, they can cost anywhere between one-quarter of a million to half a million based on the client for barely touching the edge of space. In contrast, a seat that gets a wealthy person to the space station easily costs north of $20 million.

As mentioned above, the Ax-2 private astronaut mission will be taking off between the fall season of 2022 and the Spring of 2023. NASA also has a third mission of its kind planned, but the agency will wait to see how the Ax-1 mission goes before it chooses a potential partner for future crewed tours ferrying private parties with deep pockets. The announcement is yet another sign of NASA embracing space privatization with open arms. The agency recently doled out hundreds of millions of dollars to parties like Blue Origin for building private stations as NASA gradually shifts its focus away from the ISS and towards the Artemis mission.

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Source: NASA

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