KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — Private company Axiom Space announced on Tuesday morning that it is planning to send the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center early next year. 

The Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) plans to use SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and a Dragon spacecraft to send Commander Michael López-Alegría, pilot Walter Villadei, mission specialists Alper Gezeravcı and Marcus Wandt to the ISS in January 2024.

“Ax-3 will be the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to launch to the ISS – redefining the pathway to low-Earth orbit (LEO) and helping chart a course toward Axiom Station, the world’s first commercial space station,” the company stated in a press release.  

López-Alegría is a duel-citizen who will represent Spain and the U.S. while Villadei is from Italy, Gezeravcı hails from Türkiye and Wandt from Sweden.

While no firm date has been established in January, Axiom Space did state that the mission will take off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in the Sunshine State.

The company launched its first two Axiom Space missions from Florida: Ax-2 in May of 2023 and Ax-1, the first all-private human-crewed spaceflight that took place in April 2022.

In fact, López-Alegría was the commander of the Ax-1 mission and the company’s chief astronaut.