Reuters reported a four-man crew “arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) early on Saturday for a two-week stay in the latest such mission arranged entirely at commercial expense by Texas-based startup company Axiom Space.” Their arrival “came about 37 hours after the Axiom quartet’s Thursday evening liftoff in a rocketship from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.”
Full Story (Reuters)
Tag: arrive
Three Chinese Astronauts Arrive at Tiangong
SPACE reports that China’s “three-person Shenzhou 14 mission arrived at Tianhe, the core module of the under-construction Tiangong, early Sunday morning (June 5), about six hours after lifting off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.” The three Shenzhou 14 crewmembers “are expected to spend about six months aboard the 54-foot-long (16.6 meters) Tianhe (‘Harmony of the Heavens’), which launched to low Earth orbit in April 2021.” The three taikonauts – Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe – “will conduct a variety of scientific experiments and educational outreach activities, perform several spacewalks and install some new equipment inside and outside Tianhe.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Crew-4 Astronauts Reach International Space Station
Aviation Week reports that the Crew-4 Dragon spacecraft “docked to the International Space Station (ISS) late April 27, delivering four U.S. and European astronauts to the orbiting laboratory.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
AIAA Statement on the Axiom Space AX-4 Mission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) CEO Clay Mowry made the following statement:
“Congratulations to the entire Axiom Space team on the successful arrival of the AX-4 crew to the International Space Station (ISS), after launching atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the Crew Dragon ‘Grace.’
We applaud this private mission to the orbiting laboratory. It’s got all the hallmarks of modern space exploration – a public-private partnership making it possible, an international crew, and a 14-day space mission filled with microgravity research, technology demonstrations, and public outreach. These explorers are working to improve life on Earth and accelerate our off-world future. We look forward to following their progress.
We recognize the countless aerospace industry professionals involved in making this mission a success. We salute Axiom Space, NASA, SpaceX, and the entire mission team. They are shaping the future of aerospace.”
Media contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.