Axiom Space

Axiom Space, Inc. is an American privately funded company that builds and supports space projects. It is based in Houston, Texas, and was started in 2016 by Michael T. Suffredini and Kam Ghaffarian.

In 2022, Axiom Space made history with its first spaceflight called Axiom Mission 1. This was the first time people who were not part of a government space program flew to the International Space Station together. The company wants to build and run its own space station that anyone can use in the late 2020s.

Axiom Space has sent its first commercial astronauts into space. They plan to help more people, both from governments and private companies, travel to space. These trips will be used for doing science experiments, making new things in space, and exploring the universe. The company’s team includes experienced astronauts like Michael Lopez-Alegria, Peggy Whitson, and Koichi Wakata.

History

Michael T. Suffredini, who used to manage the International Space Station, helped start Axiom Space after leaving NASA. Together with Kam Ghaffarian, they wanted to build new ways for people to travel to space for business.

In 2022, Axiom Space sent its first group of astronauts to the space station using a spaceship from SpaceX. This was the first time a private company sent people to the space station.

Axiom Space plans to build its own space station in the future. In 2025, they got help from a company in Hungary to make this dream come true.

NASA contract for ISS modules

In 2020, NASA gave Axiom Space a big job worth US$140 million. This job was part of a plan called Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships, or NextSTEP. Axiom Space was the only company chosen for this job in 2019. They were asked to build a special room, called a habitable spacecraft, to connect to the International Space Station (ISS).

Axiom Space plans to build different parts for their own space station. These parts include a connector, a place for research and making things, a home for astronauts, and a big window to look at Earth. In December 2024, they changed their plans. Now, they will first send up a module called the Payload Power Thermal Module (PPTM) to connect to the ISS. After that, in 2028, this module will move to join another module called Habitat One (Hab-1) in its own orbit.

Axiom Station

Main article: Axiom Station

Before the International Space Station stops working in 2030, a company called Axiom Space plans to build its own space station called Axiom Station. They want to launch parts of the station one by one and put them together in space. The first part is planned to launch in 2027, and they hope to finish the whole station by the late 2020s or early 2030s. After launching the second part, the station will separate from the International Space Station and float on its own.

The inside of Axiom Station was designed by a French architect in 2018. It will have comfortable walls, colorful lights, fast internet, video screens, big windows, and a special room with glass walls. Axiom Space wants to always have an astronaut on board to do research and fix anything that needs fixing.

Human spaceflight

Axiom Space offers human spaceflight services for people, companies, and space agencies. They provide trips to the International Space Station that last 10 days, with 15 weeks of training beforehand. These trips include planning, building equipment, safety checks, and more.

In June 2020, NASA was working with a movie star named Tom Cruise to film a movie at the ISS, and SpaceX was expected to help with the travel.

In-space research and manufacturing

Axiom Space plans to use special research in space, taking advantage of the very low gravity found there. They will work with the ISS National Lab until they can set up their own space modules.

Missions

In early June 2021, Axiom Space announced a deal with SpaceX for three more trips with people to the ISS, making a total of four trips.

Ax-1

Ax-2

Main article: Axiom Mission 2

Ax-2 was a trip with people to the ISS. The flight took off on May 21, 2023 and took four people to the ISS. On May 25, 2021, Axiom Space said that former NASA Astronaut Peggy Whitson would lead the mission and John Shoffner would help lead it. Two astronauts from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi were also on the trip as special helpers.

Ax-3

Main article: Axiom Mission 3

Ax-3 was a trip with people to the ISS. The flight took off on January 18, 2024 and took four people to the ISS. Former NASA Astronaut Michael López-Alegría led the mission and Walter Villadei helped lead it. Two astronauts from Turkey and Sweden, Alper Gezeravcı and Marcus Wandt were also on the trip as special helpers.

Ax-4

Main article: Axiom Mission 4

Ax-4 was a trip with people to the ISS. The flight took off on June 25, 2025 and took four people to the ISS, including the experienced Axiom astronaut, Commander Peggy Whitson. The crew included Indian pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and special helpers Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, from Poland, and Tibor Kapu, from Hungary.

Ax-5

Main article: Axiom Mission 5

Ax-5 is a planned trip with people to the ISS that will take off no earlier than January 2027.

Axiom Mission Control Center

In January 2022, Axiom Space’s Mission Control Center finished its first science work on the International Space Station (ISS). Located in Houston, Texas, this control center helped support many science activities and live events for Axiom’s first private mission to the ISS in April 2022. By late 2022, it became an official partner control center for the ISS, working with NASA. In May 2023, Axiom used this center to support their second mission to the ISS with a small team of controllers.

Flights

Orbital

Suborbital

Spacesuit

Main article: Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit

In 2022, NASA chose Axiom Space to create new spacesuits for astronauts. These suits will be used outside the International Space Station and on the Moon for future missions, including the Artemis missions. Another company, Collins Aerospace, was also chosen, but later decided to focus on keeping the older suits on the Space Station. This means Axiom Space is now the main developer of these new suits.

Axiom Space shared plans to test a version of their suit in space in 2027. However, there are concerns that they might not finish in time for the first Moon landing planned as part of Artemis, as their suits might not be ready until after 2031. NASA is working closely with Axiom Space to help make sure everything goes smoothly.

International collaboration

Axiom Space has worked with many countries to help people travel to space and do research. In 2025, they signed an agreement with Argentina to send a person to space in 2027. In 2022, they worked with Canada and one Canadian, Mark Pathy, flew to space with them.

They also have agreements with many other countries like Czech Republic, Egypt, European Space Agency, Ghana, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. These agreements help countries send their own people to space and do important research.