NASA has signed an agreement with Axiom Space to send its first private astronaut project to the International Space Station (ISS) by January 2022.
The project is designated as ‘Axium Mission 1 (Print-1)’.
*The mission will consist of a team of 4 astronauts starting from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
*SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Capsule team
Important points:
*The crew will be ISS for 8 days.
*4 Team Members Michael Lopez-Alecria (Spanish-American) – Mission Commander, Larry Connor (US), Mark Fathi (Canada), and Eaton Stebe (Israel).
*NASA is paying $ 1.69 million to Axis to bring scientific models back to Earth from the space station.
*It is noteworthy that ISS is set to retire after 2024.
Projects of India :
In 2019, India plans to build its own space station, said Dr Sivan, head of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization).
*It is proposed to weigh about 20 tons and be placed in an orbit 400 km from the Earth.
*Duration of launch 5-7 years after launch of Kaganyan Mission (India’s 1st Human Space Flight Project).