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Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The SpaceX launch of the private Axiom-3 mission to the International Space Station was scrubbed until Thursday, the company said on social media just before noon on Wednesday. The flight, the third private industry flight carrying four astronauts the orbiting laboratory was scheduled to blast off late Wednesday afternoon.
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"Now targeting Thursday, Jan. 18 for [the] launch of the Ax-3 mission to the [International Space Station]," SpaceX said. "The additional time allows teams to complete pre-launch checkouts and data analysis on the vehicle."
Axiom-3's all-European crew including European Space Agency Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, Italian Pilot Water Villadei, Turkish Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravci and Swedish ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt will lift off in a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center. They were expected to dock in a SpaceX Dragon capsule at the ISS at 5:15 a.m. on Friday where they will spend two weeks before returning home.
"During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct more than 30 scientific experiments and demonstrations focused on human physiology and technological industrial advancements," SpaceX said in a statement.
The crew is the first private group entirely comprised of Europeans to make a trip to the ISS, including Gezeravci who will be first Turkish resident to go into space.
"As you know, I'm representing my beautiful country of Turkey as the first person to go to space," Gzeravci said at a press conference Thursday. "However, the mission is not only focused on the first manned mission, but it's also representing a lot of scientific missions that we are intending to contribute in the science world."
While NASA hopes that the Axiom missions continue to show the viability for growing the private space ecosystem, it also hopes it will also take pressure off federal funding to the point that it will free up funds for the space agency's plans to return to the moon and then Mars.
