In April 2019, NASA announced private firms can apply to launch short-duration commercial crew missions to the International Space Station (ISS) to conduct for-profit activities such as space tourism. That's because the U.S. federal government plans to end its multi-billion dollar funding for the ISS in 2024 to focus on returning to the Moon and landing on Mars in the 2040s.
On Thursday, private U.S. space station manufacturer Axiom Space, Inc. said it had signed a deal with SpaceX to fly three space tourists to the ISS in the second half of 2021. The space tourists, who are called "private astronauts" to differentiate them from government astronauts, will remain aboard the ISS for 10 days. They will be flown to the ISS by the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that will be the payload of a Falcon 9 rocket.
Crew Dragon is the human-rated version of the Dragon 2 reusable spacecraft and is capable of carrying up to seven astronauts. The first crewed launch for Crew Dragon carrying astronauts Robert L. Behnken and Douglas G. Hurley is scheduled this May 7.
Axiom CEO Michael Suffredini said the 2021 space tourism mission will be "the first-ever fully private" trip to the ISS. He said the maiden mission will last 10 days. Two days will be spent on traveling to and from the ISS while eight days will see the space tourists aboard the space station.
Accompanying the space tourists will be an Axiom "commander" that will assist them. Axiom said it will announce members of the crew at a later date but it's now known the company has already booked one space tourist.
"This history-making flight will represent a watershed moment in the march toward universal and routine access to space," said Suffredini. "This will be just the first of many missions to ISS to be completely crewed and managed by Axiom Space."
Suffredini said these missions will provide 10 days in microgravity at an altitude of 250 miles, allowing private astronauts to truly live the experience of life in space. Axiom offers private missions to the ISS lasting from 10 days to 180 days. It will provide all the services necessary to ensure the space tourists are fit to fly and survive in space.
"Thanks to Axiom and their support from NASA, privately crewed missions will have unprecedented access to the space station, furthering the commercialization of space and helping usher in a new era of human exploration," said SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell.
Space tourism will help pay some of NASA's bills. NASA will get $35,000 a night for each private astronaut aboard the ISS as compensation for the agency's services.
