U.S. to launch third private astronaut mission to space station

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are targeting January next year for the launch of Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3), the third private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said on Tuesday.

The four-member crew are former NASA astronaut López-Alegría who will command the private mission, Walter Villadei of Italy who will serve as pilot, and the two mission specialists - Alper Gezeravci of Türkiye and European Space Agency project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden.

The mission will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.

During the mission, which includes about 14 days aboard the ISS, the crew will complete more than 30 research experiments developed for microgravity in collaboration with organizations across the globe, according to NASA.

NASA's goal is to enable a strong, commercial marketplace in low Earth orbit where the agency is one of many customers for private industry.