Ax-3 will be the first commercial human spaceflight mission with an ESA-sponsored astronaut. Marcus’s mission, called Muninn, is supported by ESA and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA).

“ESA is supporting a new generation of space explorers that use commercial access to space with new ideas, concepts and research. A more versatile access for humans to space will fuel the European economy and knowledge beyond Earth,” says ESA’s Director of Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander.

The other two Ax-3 crew members are Walter Villadei, an Italian Air Force colonel and pilot for the mission, and Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravci from Türkiye.