| Axiom Mission 3 | |
| Names List: | Ax-3 |
| Mission Type: | Private spaceflight to the ISS |
| Manufacturer: | SpaceX |
| Crew Size: | 4 |
| Launch Date: | UTC (5:49:11pmEST)[1] |
| Launch Rocket: | Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1080.5), Flight 291 |
| Launch Site: | Kennedy, LC39A |
| Launch Contractor: | SpaceX |
| Landing Date: | UTC (8:30amEST) |
| Landing Site: | Atlantic Ocean, near Daytona Beach, Florida (29.8°N -80.7°W) |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric orbit |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth orbit |
| Orbit Inclination: | 51.66° |
| Apsis: | gee |
| Docking: | |
| Crew Photo: | Axiom_Mission_3_at_the_ISS_(cropped).jpg |
| Crew Photo Caption: | From left: López-Alegría, Wandt, Gezeravcı and Villadei, in black jumpsuits |
| Insignia: | Axiom 3 mission patch.png |
| Programme: | Axiom Space missions |
| Previous Mission: | Axiom Mission 2 |
| Next Mission: | Axiom Mission 4 |
| Programme2: | Crew Dragon flights |
| Previous Mission2: | SpaceX Crew-7 |
| Next Mission2: | SpaceX Crew-8 |
Axiom Mission 3 (or Ax-3) was a private spaceflight to the International Space Station. The flight launched on 18 January 2024,[1] and lasted for 21 days, successfully splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.[3] It was operated by Axiom Space and used a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.[4] The booster, B1080, had previously flown Axiom-2, among other high-profile missions.[5]
All four crewmembers have backgrounds as military pilots.[6] Michael López-Alegría was the commander as an employee of Axiom; Walter Villadei from the Italian Air Force was the mission pilot.[7] The mission specialists were Alper Gezeravcı who was the first astronaut from Turkey;[8] [9] and Swedish project astronaut Marcus Wandt ("project astronaut" is ESA's designation for an astronaut assigned to a project), who was the first member of the 2022 European Space Agency Astronaut Group to receive a spaceflight mission. It was also the first commercial spaceflight mission for an ESA sponsored astronaut.[10] Wandt's component of the mission is called "Muninn"[11] [12] as it overlaps with fellow Scandinavian ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen's mission – "Huginn".[13]
The crew lifted off on a Falcon 9 from LC-39A Florida to dock with the International Space Station for an intended mission duration of approximately two weeks.[14] Final mission duration was 21 days; mission ended with a splashdown into the Atlantic Ocean on 9 February 2024.