WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched Axiom Space’s third private astronaut mission Jan. 18, sending a veteran former NASA astronaut and three astronauts from European governments to the International Space Station.
A Falcon 9 lifted off at 4:49 p.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and placed the Crew Dragon spacecraft Freedom into orbit. Freedom separated from the upper stage about 12 minutes after liftoff.
The launch had been scheduled for Jan. 17 but was delayed less than six hours before the scheduled liftoff when SpaceX announced it would take an additional day “to complete pre-launch checkouts and data analysis on the vehicle.”
SpaceX did not offer specifics on the delay, but both Axiom Space and NASA later said the delay was to provide more time to review parachute straps known as energy modulators in the Crew Dragon. SpaceX said in a Jan. 16 prelaunch briefing that they found issues with those straps, intended to regulate the load on the main parachutes when extracted from the capsule, during the return of the CRS-29 cargo Dragon mission in December. SpaceX said that may have been caused by twists in the straps, and technicians untwisted the energy modulators in the parachutes on this Crew Dragon before launch.
The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS Jan. 20 at 4:19 a.m. Eastern. It will remain docked to the station for about two weeks before returning to Earth with its four-person crew.
The Ax-3 mission is the third such mission organized by Axiom Space, which is using them to gain experience in spaceflight operations as it prepares to install commercial modules on the station that will later form the core of a standalone commercial space station upon the retirement of the ISS. Axiom flew Ax-1 in April 2022 and Ax-2 in May 2023.
Ax-3 is commanded by former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, who also commanded Ax-1. It is the sixth flight for López-Alegría, who flew on three…
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