NASA will soon require a retired space stationman to command missions on all private flights to the International Space Station, according to the agency's announcement posted on August 4.
This policy - which has not yet been finalized - is aimed at both enhancing passenger safety and reducing any stress on existing ISS operations.
The former space station pilot will provide Experimental guidance to private spaces during flight preparation through mission implementation.
Some changes also impact space travel policy, including new health standards for private spaces, more time for private research projects, changes to cargo refund policies and more time for private spaces to adjust to microchips.
The new changes are the result of an lesson in experience on the Axiom Space flight last April, where passengers paid $55 million (equivalent to more than 1,200 billion VND) each to be one of the first private astronauts to board the ISS.
The two-week trip caused some damage to both the ISS crew and the Axiom crew, according to interviews with the astronauts after the mission's return trip.
The Ax-1 mission was actually led by a former NASA space station officer - Michael Lpez-Alegria, who is currently the Chief Astronaut at Axiom. The company is considering carrying out future missions without professional astronauts on board as that would free up space for a secondary passenger, Axiom's chairman, Michael Suffredini, said at a press conference earlier this year. NASA's new policy could be an effort to block such un supervised missions.
Currently, more than 200 NASA astronauts have retired and are alive, according to the agency's website - although it is unclear how many will be ready to command future missions or meet medical requirements.
NASA itself is also facing a shortage of space planets - the current 44-man crew is the smallest number of the US Aerospace Organization since the 1970s. A January 2022 study said the absence of NASA astronauts could complicate future missions to the ISS and the Moon.
