NASA Will Require A Retired Astronaut As A Mission Commander On All Private Flights 

NASA is changing the rules for future private astronaut missions to the International Space Station, including requiring such missions to be led by a former NASA astronaut.

In a procurement notice dated August 1, NASA announced changes to the requirements for future requests for private astronaut missions to the station. The agency said the changes came from the experience of the first such mission, the Ax-1 Axiom Space flight in April, “and other recent civilian space flights.”

One of the biggest changes, which is still being finalized under the Procurement Notice, is the requirement that such missions have a “former NASA (USA) Government Astronaut” as commander. “The former NASA astronaut provides expert guidance to private astronauts during preflight and mission operations,” the document says, “and “provides communication between the permanent ISS expedition crew and private astronauts and reduces the risk to ISS operations and private astronaut missions, or PAM.

Similarly, the new requirements include a “mission-specific communications plan” that describes the media and commercial activities for the mission, including in space, and the roles that NASA and the manned spacecraft provider will play.