UPDATE: The launch has now been moved from Wednesday to Thursday. The article below has been updated to reflect the new schedule.
This coming Thursday, January 18, will see the third launch to the International Space Station by private company Axiom, with a European Space Agency (ESA)-sponsored astronaut joining three other crew members.
The launch will be livestreamed on NASA TV, so you can watch the event online. We have the full details below:
What to expect from the Axiom-3 launch
The Axiom-3 mission will see a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The crew consists of ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden, plus Commander Michael López-Alegría, a dual citizen of both the U.S. and Spain; Pilot Walter Villadei of Italy; and Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı of Turkey.
This makes the mission the first all-European commercial astronaut mission, and Gezeravcı will become the first Turkish astronaut to travel to space. As part of a deal announced last year, Axiom will carry ESA astronaut Marcus Wandt, who will work along with the other crew members during their two-week stay on the space station.
How to watch the Axiom-3 launch
The launch is scheduled for 4:49 p.m. ET (1:49 p.m. PT) on Thursday, January 18. Coverage of the launch will be available on NASA TV, NASA’s channel, which you can watch either on YouTube (using the video embedded near the top of this page) or using NASA’s recently launched streaming service, NASA+. You can get NASA+ on your phone via the iOS or Android app stores or watch on your smart TV or other device using services such as Roku, Hulu, or Apple TV.
NASA’s launch coverage begins at around 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT) and will show the final preparations before launch, as well as the liftoff and the beginning of the mission up to the point of orbital insertion. This should be around 15 minutes after liftoff.
You can tune back in early Saturday morning to watch the Crew Dragon docking with the space station. Coverage of docking begins at 3:30 a.m. ET (12 midnight PT) on Friday, January 19, with docking itself scheduled for around 5 a.m. ET (2 a.m. PT). The live stream will also include the opening of the hatch between the spacecraft and the station and welcome remarks from the crew.
