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Ars Technica's article [1] has more background. The commander is a former NASA astronaut with a lot of experience who now works for Axiom; the three passengers

Ars Technica's article [1] has more background. The commander is a former NASA astronaut with a lot of experience who now works for Axiom; the three passengers are military officers whose governments have contracted with Axiom. [1] https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/all-european-crew-takes-aim-on-international-space-station/ https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/all-european-crew-take...

hef19898 3y ago
Axiom, like the space ship in Wall-e? Heck, why not I guess... Considering the crew, and who actually pays for the launch, I guess commercial or sub-contracted are bettwr terms to discribe the mission. Private space mission aoinda way to much like rich dudes space tourism. Military astronauts and a selected scientist using a non-government launch and space craft, commanded by a proper, and experienced, mission commander is a different sport all together.
- DylanSp 3y ago
  To be fair to reporters, Axiom does both; their first mission had three space tourists as passengers, their second mission had one space tourist and two passengers from the Saudi government (a military pilot and a biomedical researcher).
  - hef19898 3y ago
    As far as headlines go, there are worse...
- dotnet00 3y ago
  Even if it was private space tourism, what's the problem? They'd be spending their massive wealth funding further development of space technology. This isn't a virgin galactic style technological dead end death trap. As prices come down for access to space, there is obviously going to be a point between only being affordable by governments and being affordable by everyone, where only governments and particularly rich people can afford it.
  - diggan 3y ago
    > Even if it was private space tourism, what's the problem? I don't think everyone is as excited to have capitalism take over our priorities in space, after seeing what it has done to Terra.
    - Alupis 3y ago
      99.999% of all man-made objects in space (and all of their benefits you enjoy every day) are there because of capitalism...
      - diggan 3y ago
        I'd say despite capitalism, but lets just agree to disagree :)
        dotnet00 3y ago
        Then you don't know anything about the history of space exploration, or are so deluded by your ideology that you are intentionally blind to it.
        diggan 3y ago
        Or, I just happen to have a different opinion from you, and a different conclusion? It's not impossible you know
        Alupis 3y ago
        Well, your opinion is not grounded in reality. Nearly every item in space that is man-made was put there for commercial purposes. The space race may have started out with government/exploration, but it was vastly propelled by commercial interests seeking to deliver services around the planet.
      - soperj 3y ago
        That sounds made up. Sputnik wasn't because of capitalism, and capitalism didn't put a man on the moon.
mezeek 3y ago
NASA forced Axiom to have the mission commander be an ex-NASA Astronaut for safety purposes. The first mission had 4 guys running around the ISS not knowing what's up.
- DylanSp 3y ago
  Wasn't the same commander (Michael López-Alegría) that's on this flight also on Axiom-1?
adolph 3y ago
A previous Ars article gives some additional perspective on the crew's relationship with ESA. Axiom is also partnered with Thales for a commercial space station, so other links already exist. By filling this astronaut reserve pool, ESA seems to have created a market for Axiom Space, a move that might raise questions given the agency’s purpose is to promote the European space sector. In fact, the ESA’s founding Convention enshrines the principle of geo-return, which grants member states at least an 80 percent return on their contributions into ESA’s budget in the form of research and development contracts. Although the cost of the Axiom missions is paid through ESA, most of this money goes to the Texas-headquartered Axiom Space and its launch provider, SpaceX. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/axiom-and-spacex-are-disrupting-europes-traditional-pathway-to-space/ https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/axiom-and-spacex-are-d...

hef19898 3y ago

Axiom, like the space ship in Wall-e? Heck, why not I guess... Considering the crew, and who actually pays for the launch, I guess commercial or sub-contracted are bettwr terms to discribe the mission. Private space mission aoinda way to much like rich dudes space tourism. Military astronauts and a selected scientist using a non-government launch and space craft, commanded by a proper, and experienced, mission commander is a different sport all together.

DylanSp 3y ago
To be fair to reporters, Axiom does both; their first mission had three space tourists as passengers, their second mission had one space tourist and two passengers from the Saudi government (a military pilot and a biomedical researcher).
- hef19898 3y ago
  As far as headlines go, there are worse...
dotnet00 3y ago
Even if it was private space tourism, what's the problem? They'd be spending their massive wealth funding further development of space technology. This isn't a virgin galactic style technological dead end death trap. As prices come down for access to space, there is obviously going to be a point between only being affordable by governments and being affordable by everyone, where only governments and particularly rich people can afford it.
- diggan 3y ago
  > Even if it was private space tourism, what's the problem? I don't think everyone is as excited to have capitalism take over our priorities in space, after seeing what it has done to Terra.
  - Alupis 3y ago
    99.999% of all man-made objects in space (and all of their benefits you enjoy every day) are there because of capitalism...
    - diggan 3y ago
      I'd say despite capitalism, but lets just agree to disagree :)
      - dotnet00 3y ago
        Then you don't know anything about the history of space exploration, or are so deluded by your ideology that you are intentionally blind to it.
        diggan 3y ago
        Or, I just happen to have a different opinion from you, and a different conclusion? It's not impossible you know
        Alupis 3y ago
        Well, your opinion is not grounded in reality. Nearly every item in space that is man-made was put there for commercial purposes. The space race may have started out with government/exploration, but it was vastly propelled by commercial interests seeking to deliver services around the planet.
    - soperj 3y ago
      That sounds made up. Sputnik wasn't because of capitalism, and capitalism didn't put a man on the moon.

mezeek 3y ago

NASA forced Axiom to have the mission commander be an ex-NASA Astronaut for safety purposes. The first mission had 4 guys running around the ISS not knowing what's up.

DylanSp 3y ago
Wasn't the same commander (Michael López-Alegría) that's on this flight also on Axiom-1?

adolph 3y ago

A previous Ars article gives some additional perspective on the crew's relationship with ESA. Axiom is also partnered with Thales for a commercial space station, so other links already exist. By filling this astronaut reserve pool, ESA seems to have created a market for Axiom Space, a move that might raise questions given the agency’s purpose is to promote the European space sector. In fact, the ESA’s founding Convention enshrines the principle of geo-return, which grants member states at least an 80 percent return on their contributions into ESA’s budget in the form of research and development contracts. Although the cost of the Axiom missions is paid through ESA, most of this money goes to the Texas-headquartered Axiom Space and its launch provider, SpaceX. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/axiom-and-spacex-are-disrupting-europes-traditional-pathway-to-space/ https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/axiom-and-spacex-are-d...