CAPITALI$M IN SPACE

NASA, Axiom plan update on private astronaut mission to ISS

A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft sits on top of a Falcon 9 rocket as it is being prepared to launch NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 to the International Space Station from Florida in November. File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- NASA and Houston-based Axiom Space are expected to provide more details Monday about their plan to launch the first all-private astronaut mission, Ax-1, to the International Space Station in late March.

Former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegria will command the crew that also includes three paying passengers to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket March 30. Liftoff is set for 2:46 p.m. EDT from Complex 39-A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA and Axiom's virtual press conference about the mission will start at 11 a.m. EST on Monday.

The paying crew members are billionaire businessmen who spent $55 million apiece on the excursion -- Larry Connor, Mark Pathy, and Eytan Stibbe.

"Soon my journey will come full circle as I return to space, this time as the leader of #Ax1 -- the first fully private mission to the @Space_Station," López-Alegria posted on Twitter. "The mission is itself a symbolic blend of government and commercial achievements."

Elon Musk's SpaceX already hosted an all private-mission in orbit, the Inspiration4 flight in September, which was paid for by billionaire Jared Isaacman, founder of the Shift4 payments company.

Private astronauts have also flown to the space station before on Russian Soyuz rockets, but always with a trained cosmonaut.

But Ax-1 will be the first time an entirely commercial mission visits the space station, under the guidance of López-Alegria.

López-Alegría, a vice president with Axiom, flew to space four times over a 20-year career at NASA. He will become the first person to command both a civil and a commercial human spaceflight mission.

Connor, an Ohio real estate and financial technology entrepreneur, has flown fighter jets and will be the mission pilot, according to Axiom's mission description.

Connor previously said he plans to collaborate with the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic on medical research, while providing lessons to students at Dayton Early College Academy in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio.

Pathy, chief executive of Mavrik, a Montreal investment firm, plans to collaborate with the Canadian Space Agency and the Montreal Children's Hospital on health-related projects.

Eytan Stibbe plans to conduct experiments for Israeli researchers and entrepreneurs coordinated by the Ramon Foundation and the Israel Space Agency, along with educational outreach to Israeli students.

The Crew Dragon capsule for the mission is due to return after 10 days in space to a splashdown near Florida.