Photo: SpaceX
SpaceX is targeting Friday, April 8 for the launch of its Ax-1 Mission for Axiom Space, according to a page on the company’s website shared on Wednesday (via Twitter).
The Falcon 9 booster and Dragon spacecraft are already set up vertically at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The launch window will begin at 11:17 a.m. on Friday, and if it is to be postponed, the company has established a backup launch window on Saturday, April 9 beginning at 10:54 a.m.
The Axiom Space mission marks the first all-private human spaceflight mission to the International Space Station, and the crew is set to do educational outreach and conduct a few innovative research experiments while on board.
SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch Increases in Price to $67 Million https://t.co/1U0FB95mns
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The crew is comprised of Canadian Mission Specialist Mark Pathy, Israeli Mission Specialist Eytan Stibbe, and U.S. Commander Michael López-Alegría and Pilot Larry Connor.
The launch is set to mark the fifth flight for this particular Falcon 9 booster, most recently launching the GPS III Space Vehicle 04 and 05, following the Inspiration4 mission and a Starlink launch.
In addition, the Dragon spacecraft being used was used to support SpaceX’s past Demo-2 and Crew-2 missions.
After launching, the Falcon 9 will land on SpaceX’s A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, currently stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Port Canaveral.
