Image: NASA
Axiom Mission 3
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 2024-01-18 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1080) |
| Spacecraft | Crew Dragon Freedom (third flight) |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 2024-02-09 |
| Recovery | Atlantic Ocean off Daytona Beach, Florida |
| Duration | 21 days, 15 hours |
| Partners | Axiom Space, SpaceX, NASA, ESA, Italian Air Force, Turkish Space Agency |
Overview
Axiom Mission 3 carried the first all-European commercial astronaut crew to the International Space Station, launching from pad 39A on 18 January 2024 at 21:49 UTC aboard Crew Dragon Freedom. Michael López-Alegría, the Spanish-American Axiom chief astronaut, commanded his sixth spaceflight, with Italian Air Force colonel Walter Villadei as pilot. The mission specialists each carried national milestones: Alper Gezeravcı, a Turkish Air Force pilot, became the first Turkish citizen to fly in space, while Sweden's Marcus Wandt flew as an ESA project astronaut on the agency's Muninn mission — moving from astronaut selection to orbit in under a year. Freedom docked with the station on 20 January, and over roughly 18 days aboard the crew worked through more than 30 experiments in human physiology, materials science and technology demonstrations, alongside more than 50 outreach engagements broadcast to classrooms across Europe and Türkiye. Undocking came on 7 February, followed by a 47-hour free flight and splashdown in the Atlantic off Daytona Beach on 9 February at about 13:30 UTC. At nearly 22 days, Ax-3 was Axiom's longest mission to date and confirmed the company's pivot toward government-sponsored national astronauts as the core of its business.
Crew
Michael López-Alegría
Commander
Sixth spaceflight; US-Spanish dual national and Axiom chief astronaut
Walter Villadei
Pilot
Italian Air Force colonel; second spaceflight after a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight
Alper Gezeravcı
Mission Specialist
First Turkish citizen in space, flying for the Turkish Space Agency
Marcus Wandt
Mission Specialist
ESA project astronaut from Sweden flying the agency's Muninn mission
Key Milestones
2024-01-18
Launch from LC-39A at 21:49 UTC — first all-European commercial crew bound for the ISS
2024-01-20
Crew Dragon Freedom docks with the ISS; Gezeravcı becomes the first Turkish citizen in space station history
2024-01-29
Crew works through 30+ experiments and 50+ outreach events during the docked phase
2024-02-07
Freedom undocks from the ISS to begin a 47-hour return cruise
2024-02-09
Splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off Daytona Beach, Florida
Key Achievements
First all-European commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station
Alper Gezeravcı became the first Turkish citizen in space
Completed more than 30 experiments and over 50 outreach engagements during roughly 18 days aboard the ISS
Longest Axiom mission to date at nearly 22 days, demonstrating the national-astronaut sponsorship model
Legacy & Significance
Ax-3 cemented the shift in private ISS missions from wealthy individuals to state-sponsored astronauts, giving Türkiye its first spacefarer and giving ESA a fast, commercial route to flight for its project astronauts. For Italy it deepened a military-commercial spaceflight partnership, and for Axiom it proved that an entire mission could be sold to national governments — the model that would carry India, Poland and Hungary to the station on Ax-4. The flight broadened Europe's human spaceflight access at a moment when ESA had no independent crew vehicle of its own.
