The first completely private space mission to visit the International Space Station – Axiom Mission 1 from Axiom Space and SpaceX was launched from Cape Canaveral. The crew of Michael López-Alegría, Marc Pathy, Larry Connor and Eytan Stibbe feels good and goes to meet the ISS.

The crew turned out to be really international. The commander of the ship Michael López-Alegría (63) has American and Spanish citizenship and is a former NASA astronaut. The Axiom Mission 1 is López-Alegría’s fifth flight. Before he flew three times in the Space Shuttle and once in the Russian “Soyuz”.

The pilot of the mission is American Larry Connor (72) – an investor and developer who has a private pilot’s license. Connor loves risk: he has competed in numerous air shows and races, and in 2021 he dived into the Mariana Trench.

The mission’s specialist, Canadian Mark Pathy, 52, is a descendant of Hungarian immigrants and also an investor. He is also a well-known philanthropist.

The second specialist, Israeli Eytan Stibbe (64), is a former military pilot and now a businessman and philanthropist. Stibbe once served under Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, who died in the Columbia shuttle crash in 2003. Stibbe considers it his duty to complete the mission begun by his commander.

Michael López-Alegría is an employee of Axiom Space. Other crew members paid $ 55 million for their seats. In this case, SpaceX acts only as a carrier.

The planned duration of the Axiom Mission is 1 to 10 days. Most of the time, private astronauts will stay on the ISS. At this time, the station will have as many as 11 people, and in space – a total of 14, it seems a record.