Axiom Space unveils AX-1 crew for fully private SpaceX mission to ISS

Two investors join the first fully private flight to the International Space Station – not as backers, but as flying passengers.

Houston-based start-up Axiom Space revealed on Tuesday that real estate investor Larry Connor and Canadian investor Mark Pathy will participate in its upcoming AX-1 mission. The couple join former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, who will be the flight commander, and former Israeli fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe. Connor will be the pilot for the mission, making him the first private space flight pilot.

Axiom signed an agreement with SpaceX for the mission last year. Elon Musk’s company is expected to launch the fully private crew no earlier than January 2022, using a Crew Dragon capsule to transport them to the space station. The mission comes at a steep price – $ 55 million per person – but will net them an eight-day stay on the space station.

“Never has an entire crew been non-professional astronauts,” López-Alegría told CNBC. “It’s really revolutionary, and I think it’s very important that the mission be successful and secure because we’re really paving the way for a lot of things after us.”

López-Alegría has flown in space four times for NASA as a professional astronaut, but now works for Axiom. He will drive them for about 15 weeks of training starting in the fall, command the spacecraft and make sure the other three crew members “have a safe and productive time,” he said.

AX-1 was originally scheduled for October 2021, but slipped in early 2022. Axiom wants to fly “a few of these missions per year,” López-Alegría added, so future missions are on the bridge. Speculation abounded that the AX-1 would star actor Tom Cruise, as NASA announced last year that it was working with Cruise to film a movie on the ISS.

Connor has led the Connor Group since 2003, bringing the Ohio-based real estate investment company to over $ 3 billion in assets. Pathy, who is set to become Canada’s 11th astronaut, is the CEO and chairman of family office fund MAVRIK Corp, as well as chairman of the board of the publicly traded Montreal music company Stingray Group.

Stibbe is said to be Israel’s second astronaut – the first was Ilan Ramon, a payload specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, who was killed in February 2003 when Columbia shattered on re-entry. Stibbe was a close friend of Ramon.

While space tourism is an emerging sub-sector of the space industry, Axiom’s private passengers do not fall into this category.

“We absolutely don’t believe we are space tourists,” Connor told CNBC.

López-Alegría also pointed out that the 10-day mission “is not 100% vacation for these guys”.

“They are really focused on this mission being to promote a benefit to society, so they are each working on flight programs,” Lopez-Alegria said. “They are teaming up with various institutions, hospitals, and other research entities, as well as doing outreach while they’re up there.”

Each of the three has research missions that they will carry out on behalf of other organizations. Connor works with the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic. Meanwhile, Pathy works with the Canadian Space Agency and the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Finally, Stibbe works on behalf of the Ramon Foundation and the Israel Space Agency.

“I volunteered to be a test subject,” Connor said. “We don’t go there to be spectators; we go there to research and hopefully add value for people.”

Connor and Pathy together attended SpaceX’s first astronaut launch, the Demo-2 mission in May, which was the first rocket launch they had seen in person.

SpaceX developed Crew Dragon with significant funding from NASA, with the spacecraft built to transport astronauts to and from the ISS in low earth orbit. SpaceX has launched two crews of astronauts for NASA so far, including the first operational mission called Crew-1 in November.

Although NASA was instrumental in its development, Musk’s company owns and operates the spacecraft and rocket – Axiom managing the mission and preparing the astronauts for launch.

The AX-1 crew has yet to begin formal training, but Connor said they stopped by SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles for a spacesuit fit and to view the spacecraft.

“The Crew Dragon capsule, in terms of quality and professionalism, is simply exceptional,” said Connor. “And you can say it, [as a group SpaceX is] exceptionally talented and committed to the mission. “

Connor pointed out that “NASA and SpaceX have nothing less than a remarkable safety record,” which he said he reviewed with his family when considering the risk of flying into space.

“We have come to the point where we are not only confident but also convinced that we can accomplish both a valuable and secure mission,” said Connor.

AX-1 is expected to use SpaceX’s Crew Dragon “Resilience” spacecraft after returning from its current Crew-1 mission. As the company lands and regularly reuses its Falcon 9 rocket thrusters and Cargo Dragon capsules, AX-1 would likely be the first time reuse has been introduced in a Crew Dragon spacecraft.

“I’m very comfortable with it,” said López-Alegría. “Reusability is something that has always made sense in human spaceflight.”

At $ 55 million per seat, it’s no surprise that the first private space team includes wealthy people like Connor and Pathy. The former said it was “a fair question and concern” that some might criticize private spaceflight as being reserved for the ultra rich.

“We have a lot of national problems and challenges, as well as international ones, but does that mean we have to forget about the future?” Connor asked. “And, if you really think about the future, my take is that space is the next big frontier, so shouldn’t we try to explore and in some ways try to create that?”

López-Alegría called the mission “the first crack in the door to the democratization of space,” closely following NASA’s decision in 2019 to allow private missions to visit the ISS. NASA will charge each person $ 35,000 per day on board, in compensation for necessary services such as the use of food and data.

“It’s not a very democratic demographic right now due to the cost of flights, but we fully anticipate that the costs will start to drop,” López-Alegría said. “At some point we will be able to offer them to the man in the street. It’s going to take a while but that’s the point, and you have to start somewhere.

For his part, Connor called for critics of private spaceflight to “think long term” in 25 years or more.

“Will it be so rare for people to go to space?” I think and hope the answer will be no. So, somebody’s got to throw it up, somebody’s got to explore and set the standards, and hopefully people will look at it that way, ”Connor says.

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