NASA TV coverage is underway for the launch of Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) – the second all private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. Launch is targeting liftoff at 5:37 p.m. EDT from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The live launch broadcast is carried on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. The broadcast will end after orbital insertion approximately 15 minutes after launch.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will carry Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi to the orbital complex. The Ax-2 crew will dock about 9:16 a.m. Monday, May 22, to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module.
At 7 p.m., the agency’s website will air the Ax-2 Postlaunch Media Briefing (targeted about one hour following launch) with leadership from NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX providing an update on the launch and mission operations.
Participants include:
- Joel Montalbano, manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
- Matt Ondler, chief technology officer, Axiom Space
- Benji Reed, senior director, Human Spaceflight Programs, SpaceX
NASA’s mission responsibility is for integrated operations, which begins during the spacecraft’s approach to the International Space Station, continues during the crew’s stay aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting science, education, and commercial activities, and concludes once Dragon exits the area of the space station.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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