On board the Ax-1 mission, which spent 17 nights in orbit last spring
(Picture: Axiom Space)Londoners may get the chance to be space tourists on the next Axiom space programme as US-based SpaceVIP opens in the UK. Last April, on the Ax-1 mission, three people paid $55 million to spend 17 nights in orbit and experience sunrise and sunset every 90 minutes.
It was the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station – and it is happening again. This spring Ax-2 will be all systems go. So far it has been confirmed that former Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson will lead the mission from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center, with aviator John Shoffner as pilot and two other crew yet to be announced. Ax-3 was pitched for October 2023 but Nasa is reviewing the mission and nothing is confirmed yet.
