Details emerge about Tom Cruise's future flight aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon

Earlier this year, Axiom Space announced it signed a deal with SpaceX to launch a crew of four private passengers to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft. New details emerged about who those passengers will be, turns out, the voyage is booked for Hollywood actor Tom Cruise, who is notorious for putting his life on the line to perform his own stunts in the action-packed saga ‘Mission: Impossible.’

Cruise will ride alongside producer Doug Liman who will film the first movie in outer space. One of the passengers will be former NASA Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria. He is heading back to orbit as Dragon-ship commander for Axiom’s space tour with Cruise. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will propel Dragon to orbit towards the Space Station where they will stay for eight days to film in microgravity and enjoy beautiful views of Earth. The fourth passenger has not been revealed yet, it will probably be a Hollywood actress that will join them. They are scheduled to embark on a 10-day voyage to the Space Station in October 2021. These details were released in a graph about planned launches to ISS, created by Space Shuttle Almanac, pictured below.

So its confirmed that @CommanderMLA is flying the @Axiom_Space @SpaceX #CrewDragon tourist mission with Director @DougLiman & Tom Cruise. One seat still to be filled. They are to launch in October, 2021. pic.twitter.com/dn6SLvCOGz

— Space Shuttle Almanac (@ShuttleAlmanac) September 19, 2020

In May, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Cruise will collaborate with the agency to film a movie in outer space. “NASA is excited to work with Tom Cruise on a film aboard the Space Station! We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA’s ambitious plans a reality,” Bridenstine wrote via Twitter.

The movie will be produced by Universal Pictures, the budget is estimated to be around $200 million. Liman is still in the process of writing the script. Christopher McQuarrie, who is the writer/director on the Mission: Impossible saga, will be story advisor and co-producer, according to Deadline reporters. 

Axiom will be responsible for “training, mission planning, hardware development, life support, medical support, crew provisions, hardware and safety certifications, on-orbit operations, and overall mission management.” A movie filmed in outer space would revolutionize the film industry. Such a feat has never been done before, aside from astronauts recording themselves at the space station and during spacewalks. It will take a lot of rigorous training for Cruise and Liman to film in zero gravity.

“This history-making flight will represent a watershed moment in the march toward universal and routine access to space,” Axiom Chief Executive Officer Michael Suffredini said in a statement earlier this year. “This will be just the first of many missions to ISS to be completely crewed and managed by Axiom Space – a first for a commercial entity. Procuring the transportation marks significant progress toward that goal, and we’re glad to be working with SpaceX in this effort.”