Launch set from Kennedy Space Center

(Left) Ax-3 Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt, Pilot Walter Villadei, Commander Michael López-Alegría, Mission Specialists Alper Gezeravcı (Right) (Axiom Space)

ORLANDO, Fla. – The next crewed launch is set for Wednesday from the Space Coast.

Axiom Space is sending the next crew of four to the International Space Station in Axiom Mission 3, or Ax-3. The launch is set for 5:11 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center.

The crewmembers consist of Walter Villadei of Italy as pilot and Michael López-Alegría of Spain as commander with mission specialists Marcus Wandt of Sweden and Alper Gezeravcı of Turkey, marking the first all-European lineup to launch to the space station.

The four will spend 14 days at the space station conducting various research experiments.

Ax-1 launched in April 2022 from Kennedy Space Center, marking SpaceX’s first private charter flight to the space station after two years of taking up NASA astronauts.

López-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut, was also on this flight, as well as businessmen Larry Connor, Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe. The mission was originally expected to last eight days as the private astronauts were kept busy with science experiments, but undocking was postponed for almost a week due to unfavorable weather at the splashdown site.

About a year later in May 2023, Ax-2 launched from KSC, sending a sonic boom across the Space Coast as the Falcon 9 booster landed at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Its crew included Peggy Whitson, a retired NASA astronaut, John Shoffner of Tennessee, and Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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About the Author:

Brenda Argueta is a digital journalist who joined ClickOrlando.com in March 2021. She graduated from UCF and returned to Central Florida after working in Colorado.