Turkey’s first astronaut joins three others in reaching the International Space Station

Axiom Space, a Texas-based startup company, arranged for a four-man crew, including Turkiye’s first astronaut, to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) early on Saturday for a two-week stay. The crew’s rendezvous came about 37 hours after their liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Crew Dragon vessel and Falcon 9 rocket were supplied, launched, and operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX under contract with Axiom. Once the astronauts reached the space station, they fell under the responsibility of NASA’s mission control operation in Houston. The crew autonomously docked with the ISS, and plans call for them to spend roughly 14 days conducting scientific experiments. The multinational team was led by Michael López-Alegría, a Spanish-born retired NASA astronaut and Axiom executive, making his sixth flight to the space station. Axiom has carved out a business catering to foreign governments and wealthy private patrons, and it is one of a handful of companies building a commercial space station of its own intended to eventually replace the ISS.