NASA, SpaceX Zero-In On New Launch Date For Delayed Axiom Mission 2 This Month

Axiom Space‘s second all-private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) Ax-2 has been freshly scheduled to the end of the third week of May.

What Happened: The Ax-2 launch is now scheduled for 5:37 p.m. EDT Sunday, May 21, NASA said on Twitter. The mission was previously scheduled for May 8.

The mission’s four-member crew will be led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. The other members are pilot John Shoffner and mission specialists Ali AlQarni and Rayyanah Barnawi from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Under the mission, the crew will fly on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, dock to the ISS for 10 days and conduct more than 20 research experiments.

Why It Matters: Last week, NASA took to Twitter to say that NASA, Axiom Space and SpaceX are no longer targeting launch opportunities in early May. The updated launch date will be announced "soon," NASA and Axiom had said.

Axiom finalized a deal with SpaceX for three additional Dragon flights for its fully commercial missions to the International Space Station in June 2021. The company aims to have an Axiom Station ready to operate as the ISS’ privately owned successor by 2028.

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