NASA and Axiom Space have signed a mission order for the fifth private astronaut mission (PAM) to the International Space Station – its fifth consecutive PAM award granted by the agency. Axiom Mission 5 (Ax-5) is targeted to launch no earlier than January 2027 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is expected to spend up to 14 days docked to the space station. The crew complement is pending final agreements and agency and international approvals and will be announced at a future date.
“We are honored that NASA awarded Axiom Space its fifth human spaceflight mission,” said Dr. Jonathan Cirtain, Axiom Space President and CEO. “All four previous missions have expanded the global community of space explorers, diversifying scientific investigations in microgravity, and providing significant insight that is benefiting the development of our next-generation space station, Axiom Station. The award underscores Axiom Space’s commitment to redefining access to space, fostering international collaboration, and enabling research opportunities in low-Earth orbit (LEO) for the benefit of all.”
As part of the NASA award, Axiom Space brings on Voyager Technologies, as a teammate participating in payload integration.
“Voyager’s role on Ax-5 reflects a proven mission-management heritage built through years of supporting commercial payloads on the space station,” said Dylan Taylor, chairman & CEO, Voyager Technologies. “We are proud to partner with Axiom Space in support of the Ax-5 mission. As commercial LEO destinations mature into sustained operational domains, missions like Ax-5 will further demonstrate the power of end-to-end execution across human spaceflight, research payloads, and the commercial infrastructure shaping the future space economy.”
As the United States transitions from government-led to commercial-enabled space operations, Axiom Space is one of the only companies with proven human spaceflight experience poised to lead in this new era. In four years, the company successfully executed four missions onboard the space station, flying 14 private and government astronauts, who conducted more than 160 science and research activities, and more than 100 outreach and media engagements while in orbit.
Previous Axiom Space missions were commanded by retired NASA astronauts Michael López-Alegría, Axiom Space Chief Astronaut, and Peggy Whitson, Axiom Space Vice President of Human Spaceflight. These missions achieved many firsts, including the first female Saudi astronaut and first Turkish astronaut to launch to space, and the first time that astronauts from the nations of Saudi Arabia, India, Poland, and Hungary lived and worked onboard the International Space Station.
The discoveries resulting from these missions have been groundbreaking – diabetes research, demonstrating real-time glucose monitoring and insulin delivery in microgravity; and cancer research, testing a therapeutic drug which entered clinical trials last year. These types of activities sparked the establishment of the Axiom Space University Alliance last year, which not only identifies key areas of scientific opportunity but also facilitates the development of global research priorities that reflect collective input and strategic value, enabling real-world breakthroughs benefiting everyone on Earth. Axiom Space will continue to work with leading science institutions and researchers on private astronaut missions, expanding the opportunities for the advancement of science.
Axiom Space looks forward to another exciting year ahead, working with the international space community to leverage the unique microgravity environment to further human exploration, discovery, innovation, and the development of a global space economy.
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