The first fully European private commercial mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has launched this Thursday successfully from NASA's Kennedy Space Centerin Central Florida, commanded by Hispanic Michael López-Alegría.
The Ax-3 mission of the American company Axion Space has started with four crew members on board will launch from Cape Canaveral at 4:49 p.m. local time (9:49 p.m. GMT) and aim to conduct more than thirty scientific experiments on the ISS Microgravity, including on stem cells or cancer. This is the first time for the crew, who will remain at the orbital outpost for 14 days completely European.
In addition to López-Alegría, they travel in the Mission of the Italians Walter Villadei (pilot), and the specialists Alper Gezeravci, the first Turk to travel into space, and Marcus Wandt from Sweden. The Ax 3 launched on schedule in a Dragon capsule 8 meters high, powered by a reusable two-stage and a 70 meter long Falcon 9 rocket, both from Elon Musk's private commercial company SpaceX.
The crew of the commercial mission, sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA), will conduct scientific research related to life sciences, human psychology and industrial technological advances. Some of the results could be used for identification new therapies in the fight, for example against cancer, at an early stage when it is still curable.
This private commercial mission, Axiom Space's third, will also help advance private development and use of the ISS in this new era, creating a strong and sustainable market in low Earth orbit (LEO). The mission was scheduled to launch this Wednesday, but officials postponed the launch until today to complete a final inspection and data analysis of the vehicle.