NASA soliciting proposals for two private astronaut missions - SpaceNews

Jun 14, 2021

WASHINGTON — NASA announced June 11 that it is requesting proposals for two private astronaut missions to the International Space Station that would fly between the fall of 2022 and the end of 2023.

The first private astronaut mission under the policy is Axiom Space’s Ax-1 mission, scheduled for early 2022 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

However, Axiom Space executives have acknowledged that they will have to compete for those future opportunities for private astronaut missions.

Demand for private astronaut missions is greater than the two opportunities per year currently available, NASA officials said at a May briefing where they announced they finalized the agreement with Axiom for the Ax-1 mission.

Phil McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA Headquarters, said in an agency statement that interest in private astronaut missions was another sign of a “renaissance” in human spaceflight made possible by commercial crew vehicles.