Roundup: U.S. launches first private astronaut mission to space station

LOS ANGELES, April 8 (Xinhua) -- NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX launched a first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday.

The four-person multinational crew is composed of Commander Michael López-Alegría and Pilot Larry Connor of the United States, Mission Specialist Eytan Stibbe of Israel, and Mission Specialist Mark Pathy of Canada.

The mission, codenamed Ax-1, was launched on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket at 11:17 a.m. Eastern Time from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

About three minutes after launch, SpaceX confirmed main engine cutoff and stage separation.

Following stage separation, Falcon 9's first stage landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew the Demo-2 and Crew-2 missions.

The crew is scheduled to dock with the ISS at approximately 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday.

During the 10-day mission, the crew will spend eight days on the International Space Station, conducting scientific research, outreach, and commercial activities, according to NASA.

Their scientific research includes self-assembling technology for satellites and future space habitats, cancer stem cell study, and air purification, according to Axiom Space.

The Ax-1 mission is the first American all-private human spaceflight mission to the ISS.

The mission represents both a culmination of NASA's efforts to foster a commercial market in low-Earth orbit, and a beginning of a new era of space exploration that enables more people to fly on more kinds of missions, said NASA.

"This private astronaut mission is one part of our overall effort," said Angela Hart, manager for NASA's Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development program.

"We're also enabling the commercial activities the crew will conduct on the space station, and we're working with private industry to develop future commercial stations in orbit to create a robust ecosystem of destinations for future space travelers," Hart said.