Second Private Astronaut Mission to the ISS Planned for 2023

pcmag.com:

NASA and Axiom Space have inked a deal for a second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station in 2023.

The space agency also announced(Opens in a new window) five additional SpaceX missions to the ISS.

The Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) flight(Opens in a new window) is scheduled to launch next year from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and dock at the ISS, where four crew members will spend 10 days aboard the orbiting laboratory.

"With each new step forward, we are working together with commercial space companies and growing the economy in low-Earth orbit," Phil McAlister, director of commercial space at NASA Headquarters, said in a statement. "In addition to expanding access to orbit for more people, we are also hoping these private astronaut missions will help the industry learn and develop the skillset to conduct such missions, and NASA is benefitting from gaining additional capability, particularly with returning additional cargo from the space station."

In April, Axiom successfully launched four civilians, including former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, on its first all-private mission to the ISS, dubbed Ax-1. Ax-2 crew members will begin training this fall with NASA, international partners, and SpaceX—the latter will provide transportation to and from the ISS via its reusable Dragon capsule.

The $1.4 billion SpaceX contract announced today, meanwhile, brings the total missions for SpaceX to 14 and will allow NASA to maintain an uninterrupted US human presence on the ISS until 2030. SpaceX's fourth crew rotation mission, Crew-4, is currently in orbit aboard the space station. Each mission sees SpaceX transport up to four astronauts and critical cargo.

In an effort to increase passenger