Axiom Mission 3

Axiom Mission 3 (or Ax-3) was a private spaceflight to the International Space Station. The flight launched on January 18, 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.

Infobox

Names

Ax-3

Mission type

Private spaceflight to the ISS

Operator

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COSPAR ID

2024-014A

SATCAT no.

58815

Website

www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax3

Mission duration

21 days, 15 hours, 41 minutes

Spacecraft

Crew Dragon Freedom

Spacecraft type

Crew Dragon

Manufacturer

SpaceX

Launch mass

12,519 kg (27,600 lb)

Landing mass

9,616 kg (21,200 lb)

Crew size

Members

mw- Michael López-AlegríaWalter VilladeiAlper GezeravcıMarcus Wandt

Launch date

January 18, 2024, 21:49:11 (2024-01-18UTC21:49:11Z) UTC (5:49:11 pm EST)

Rocket

Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1080‑5), Flight 291

Launch site

Kennedy, LC‑39A

Contractor

SpaceX

Recovered by

MV Shannon

Landing date

February 9, 2024, 13:30 (2024-02-09UTC13:31Z) UTC (8:30 am EST)

Landing site

Atlantic Ocean, near Daytona Beach, Florida (.mw- 29°48′N 80°42′W / 29.8°N 80.7°W / 29.8; -80.7)

Reference system

Geocentric orbit

Regime

Low Earth orbit

Inclination

51.66°

Docking port

Harmony forward

Docking date

January 20, 2024, 10:42 UTC

Undocking date

February 7, 2024, 14:20 UTC

Time docked

18 days, 3 hours, 38 minutes

Tables

Prime crew · Crew

Commander

Position

Commander

Astronaut

Michael López-Alegría, Axiom SpaceSixth spaceflight

Pilot

Position

Pilot

Astronaut

Walter Villadei, AMSecond spaceflight

Mission specialist

Position

Mission specialist

Astronaut

Alper Gezeravcı, TUAFirst spaceflight

Mission specialist

Position

Mission specialist

Astronaut

Marcus Wandt, SNSA / ESAFirst spaceflight

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Michael López-Alegría, Axiom SpaceSixth spaceflight
Pilot	Walter Villadei, AMSecond spaceflight
Mission specialist	Alper Gezeravcı, TUAFirst spaceflight
Mission specialist	Marcus Wandt, SNSA / ESAFirst spaceflight

Backup crew · Crew

Commander

Position

Commander

Astronaut

Peggy Whitson, Axiom Space

Mission specialist

Position

Mission specialist

Astronaut

Tuva Cihangir Atasever, TUA

Position	Astronaut
Commander	Peggy Whitson, Axiom Space
Mission specialist	Tuva Cihangir Atasever, TUA

References

Next Spaceflight
https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/6790
NASA
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2024/01/20/ax-3-docks-to-station-aboard-dragon-spacecraft/
NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-axiom-space-for-third-private-astronaut-station-mission
Axiom Space
https://web.archive.org/web/20210904033246/https://www.axiomspace.com/press-release/axiom-spacex-deal
Space Launch Now
https://spacelaunchnow.me/vehicle/launcher/123
spacedaily
https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/ESAs_Marcus_Wandtembarks_on_historic_Muninn_Mission_aboard_ISS_999.html
Axiom Space
https://www.axiomspace.com/news/ax3-astronaut-crew
Collect Space
http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/001824.html
SpaceNews
https://spacenews.com/axiom-space-refines-training-for-next-private-astronaut-mission/
Space, Air Force and Axiom agreements on the Ax-3 mission
https://news.italy24.press/trends/388297.html
Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/exclusive-saudi-arabia-buys-pair-spacex-astronaut-seats-axiom-sources-2022-09-20/
"Saudi Arabia and Turkey compete to get a woman astronaut into orbit as soon as possible"
https://atalayar.com/en/content/saudi-arabia-and-turkey-compete-get-woman-astronaut-orbit-soon-possible
Axiom Space refines training for next private astronaut mission, October 18, 2023.
https://spacenews.com/axiom-space-refines-training-for-next-private-astronaut-mission/