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Axiom Space, a start-up from Houston, Texas, is a company that aims to build a next-generation space station and currently offers customers space tours. Deadline reports, Axiom partnered with a TV production agency Space Hero Inc. that will produce a reality show (by the same name) where contestants will undergo astronaut training that will challenge their physical and mental strength. The reality show winner will win a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) where they will stay for 10 days. The entire contestants’ experience will be live-streamed for the world to see. “The series will search the entire globe for an everyday citizen with a deep love for space exploration. Space Hero will provide an opportunity for anyone from any background to become the first globally-elected space explorer to take part in a mission to the International Space Station,” the company said in a press release.
“Space Hero is the new frontier for the entertainment sector, offering the first-ever truly off-planet experience. We aim to reinvent the reality TV category by creating a multi-channel experience that offers the biggest prize ever, to the biggest audience possible,” News Corp Europe Chief Marty Pompadu said. “Space Hero is about opening space up to everyone – not only to astronauts and billionaires.”
Deadline reporters stated SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket would launch the reality show winner aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Later, CNBC reported Axiom has not decided on what launch provider will conduct the mission which is currently scheduled for the year 2023.
Space Hero Inc. founder Thomas Reemer told Deadline – "...When 2015 came, it became clear that there would be more than just one rocket company available. At that moment it was only the Russians flying to the ISS, but in 2015 SpaceX and Boeing were gearing up to bring people back to the ISS from the United States as well, and so it became clear that there will be access capacity for those tickets."
SpaceX officially returned human spaceflight capabilities to the United States when it successfully conducted its first crewed voyage to the orbiting laboratory this year. Boeing is still working towards launching its first astronauts to ISS sometime next year.
SpaceX may be selected as a launch provider for the reality show series. Earlier this year, Axiom signed a deal with SpaceX to launch a crew of four private passengers atop a Falcon 9 rocket aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft. They will embark on a 10-day voyage to ISS sometime in 2021. The three private passengers will train to fly with a professionally trained astronaut commander. Dragon will ferry them towards the Space Station where they will stay for at least 8 days to experience micro-gravity and witness incredible views of Earth from orbit.
About the Author
Evelyn Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
