NASA, SpaceX and Axiom Space today (May 15, U.S. time) conducted a flight readiness review (FRR) for the Ax-2 mission, which is scheduled to launch at 5:37 p.m. GMT on May 22, using a Falcon 9 rocket to launch four private astronauts to the International Space Station.
The mission will dock with the ISS for eight days, team members said today. That’s a slight departure from previous plans that called for a 10-day stay on the ISS.
Notably, scientists will grow stem cells in space with Ax-2, testing how microgravity affects the development of heart cells as well as brain cells, a world first.
If Ax-2 doesn’t take off on time, it will have one more launch opportunity a day later. Of course, if it misses both of those takeoffs, it will have to wait a little longer to reach space. Because right after this mission, NASA and SpaceX will have to prepare for CRS-28, SpaceX’s 28th delivery mission to the International Space Station, scheduled to take off from KSC on June 3.
Axe-2 will be the second private flight operated by Axiom Space with SpaceX. The company previously executed Ax-1 in April 2022, using Falcon IX to send four people to space and work on the ISS for more than two weeks.
Ax-2 also set a precedent, according to the report. The mission’s two crew members are Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni, who will be the first Saudi Arabians to reach the ISS, while Barnawi will be the first Saudi woman in space.
In fact, Axiom Space is also developing its own space station modules that will be launched to the International Space Station in the next few years. Eventually, these space station modules will be separated from the ISS to form the company’s own private space station in near-Earth orbit.
