---
title: "SpaceX Successfully Launches First All-Private Mission to the Space Station"
description: "SpaceX has successfully launched the first all-private crew of space tourists to the International Space Station, as part of Axiom Space's Ax-1 mission."
date: "2022-04-08"
modified: "2022-04-08"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-launches-first-all-private-mission-space-station"
categories:
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
tags:
  - "axiom space"
  - "crew dragon"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "the digest"
---

# SpaceX Successfully Launches First All-Private Mission to the Space Station

![SpaceX has successfully launched the first all-private crew of space tourists to the International Space Station, as part of Axiom Space's Ax-1 mission.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/spacex-successfully-launches-first-all-private-mission-to-the-space-station.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Axiom Space\</em\>*

## All-Private Launch

It's a historic moment in the history of spaceflight.

SpaceX has [successfully launched](<https://youtu.be/5nLk_Vqp7nw>) the first all-private crew of space tourists to the International Space Station, as part of Axiom Space's [Ax-1 mission](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/first-private-mission-space-station-crew>).

The Crew Dragon spacecraft took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at around 11:17 am local time, taking [one retired NASA astronaut and three paying passengers](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-private-iss-mission>) into orbit.

"Godspeed, Axiom-1," SpaceX commentators could be heard saying.

https://youtu.be/5nLk_Vqp7nw

## Picture Perfect

The launch went by without a hitch, which is to be expected at this point — it's the sixth successful crewed launch of the spacecraft and the fifth to fly to the space station.

Stage separation was confirmed just under three minutes into flight, "a picture perfect liftoff," as SpaceX's commentator called it.

SpaceX's drone ship managed to safely catch the rocket's first stage minutes after delivering the payload into the upper atmosphere.

## Future of Space Tourism

The trip was organized by SpaceX and Axiom Space, a private space company, which is also hoping to launch [its own space station](<https://www.axiomspace.com/axiom-station>) in the upcoming years.

The crew will spend ten days in orbit, and eight on board the orbital outpost.

It's a watershed moment for the still nascent space tourism industry, a hint of many more launches like it in the future.

**More on Ax-1:**[ SpaceX Space Tourists Are Bringing a Brain-Reading Helmet to Space This Month](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/spacex-tourists-brain-reading-helmet>)

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)