Photo courtesy of Axiom Space
The 45th Weather Squadron has released its official Launch Mission Execution Forecast for tomorrow’s planned crewed launch of Axiom-3 by SpaceX. According to forecasters, there is less than a 5% Probability of Violation of weather conditions, meaning the weather is expected to be almost perfect, especially by Florida standards: they expect a 95% or greater chance of acceptable weather conditions. The launch is planned for 5:11 PM EST. Once in orbit, the astronauts will travel to the International Space Station for an anticipated 14-day stay.
Source: Space Launch Delta 45
The 45th Weather Squadron has an excellent infographic-style FAQ detailing their criteria for acceptable launch conditions here.
About Axiom-3
Axiom Mission 3, the first all-European private mission to the International Space Station, will launch no earlier than January 17, 2024 from Kennedy Space Center. The astronauts will fly aboard a Crew Dragon boosted by a SpaceX Falcon 9 and will depart from LC-39A.
This mission will mark the first time that the European Space Agency (ESA) has employed commercial services companies for a crewed mission — all of their other astronauts have been crew members aboard either a NASA or Roscosmos flight. From time to time, some discussions about the Europeans developing their own capability for crewed flights aboard ESA rockets and spacecraft have arisen. Still, to date, there has not been any concrete effort in that direction.
Axiom Space’s Chief Astronaut Michael López-Alegría will serve as mission commander, and will represent both the U.S. and Spain as a dual-citizen. Mission pilot is Italian Air Force Col. Walter Villadei, and the two mission specialists are Alper Gezeravcı of Türkiye and ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden. Villadei, Gezeravcı, and Wandt have extensive flight crew experience and have all served in their nation’s Air Forces.