ORLANDO, Fla. — NASA has selected Axiom Space for its fifth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for 2027.
In a statement late Jan. 30, NASA said it signed an agreement with Axiom for the mission, designated Ax-5 by the company. The roughly two-week mission will fly no earlier than January 2027, with the exact date dependent on mission preparations and other activities aboard the ISS.
Axiom did not announce the crew for the mission. NASA said the proposed crew will be subject to approval by the agency and the other ISS partners. NASA requires that the mission be commanded by a former astronaut with ISS flight experience.
There have been four private astronaut missions since NASA announced plans in 2019 to enable such flights to the ISS. Axiom won all four opportunities, facing little competition. The most recent mission, Ax-4, launched to the station last summer.
“All four previous missions have expanded the global community of space explorers, diversified scientific investigations in microgravity and provided significant insight that is benefiting the development of our next-generation space station, Axiom Station,” Jonathan Cirtain, chief executive of Axiom Space, said in a statement.
One difference with Ax-5 is that Axiom will work with Voyager Technologies on the mission. Voyager will participate in payload integration for the flight.
“As commercial LEO destinations mature into sustained operational domains, missions like Ax-5 will further demonstrate the power of end-to-end execution across human spaceflight, research payloads and the commercial infrastructure shaping the future space economy,” Dylan Taylor, chief executive of Voyager, said in a statement.
While Axiom faced little competition for earlier missions, another company, Vast, previously said it planned to compete for future private astronaut mission opportunities. NASA issued a request for proposals in April 2025 for two private astronaut missions, and in announcing the Ax-5 award said it is finalizing the order for the other mission.
Companies view private astronaut missions as a way to gain experience in human spaceflight and space station operations ahead of the deployment of commercial stations. Axiom and Vast are developing their own station concepts, while Voyager is the lead partner on Starlab Space, a joint venture also pursuing a commercial station.
“The award of our fifth private astronaut mission shows that commercial space is not a distant promise, but a present reality,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement. “By expanding access and sharpening competition in low Earth orbit, these missions are building the capabilities NASA will rely on as we move outward to the moon, Mars and beyond.”
