A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft aboard their Falcon 9 rocket launched the Axiom-2 (Ax-2) mission with four spaceflight participants to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A at 5:37 p.m. on 21 May 2023. The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew Crew-4 to and from the space station. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct over 20 science and technology experiments in areas such as human physiology, physical sciences, and STEAM to help expand knowledge to benefit life on Earth in areas such as health care, materials, technology development, and enable industrial advances.

Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) will be Axiom Space’s second all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), marking another pivotal step toward Axiom Station, the world’s first commercial space station and successor to the ISS.

The Ax-2 crew is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than May 21, 2023. The four-person Axiom Space crew will fly to space in SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft atop its Falcon 9 rocket to participate in the mission, including working and living on the orbiting laboratory to implement a full manifest of science, outreach, and commercial activities.

The Ax-2 crew: Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, Mission Commander Peggy Whitson, and Mission Pilot John Shoffner. IMAGE CREDIT: AXIOM SPACE

Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and ISS commander, will lead the mission. Aviator John Shoffner of Knoxville, Tennessee, will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Axiom Space’s Ax-2 mission continues progress toward the Axiom Station and a sustainable low-Earth orbit economy as humans venture farther for longer duration in space.