Walter Villadei: Ax-3 Mission Pilot | International Space Station

Walter Villadei: Ax-3 Mission Pilot | International Space Station

As the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) will "redefine the pathway to low-Earth orbit for nations around the globe." This mission is an opportunity for more countries to join the international space community and access low-Earth orbit to advance exploration and research in microgravity. 

The Ax-3 Mission crew is expected to launch no earlier than Thursday, January 18, 2024, from Kennedy Space Center atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Their Dragon Freedom crew spacecraft will have a day-and-a-half-long ride to the International Space Station.

Born April 1974 in Rome, Italy, Walter Villadei is a colonel in the Italian Air Force (ItAF) and is currently the head of ItAF’s representative office in the U.S., overseeing commercial spaceflight initiatives. He has extensive experience in Italian space programs, including multiple assignments as a member of the scientific committee of the Italian Space Agency and national representative for the European Commission for the Space Surveillance and Tracking Program. 

In 2011, Villadei received cosmonaut training in Star City, Russia as a Soyuz flight engineer and in advanced Orlan and International Space Station (ISS) Russian segment systems. In 2014 and 2018, he completed pre-assignment and multiple analog training, which included centrifuge, hypoxia chamber, and survival training.

In 2021, Villadei was selected to fly on Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered flight, Unity 23, the first commercial, human-tended research mission for the company. The mission Vitute-1 was carried out in June 2023, and the crew conducted 12 experiments aboard Unity 23, to include materials, technology, and human physiology research. Villadei served as mission lead and tended to the rack-mounted payloads during the weightless portion of the flight while wearing a smart suit to measure his physiological responses.

Villadei has a Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Naples and a specialization in astronautical engineering from the University of Rome.

He is fluent in reading, writing, and speaking in English and his native Italian, along with extensive experience speaking Russian.

With a love for space, stars, aviation, and science combined with Russian cosmonaut and Italian Air Force training, Villadei is honored to have been chosen as the pilot for Axiom Space’s third commercial astronaut mission to the ISS, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3).

Read his full biography on the Axiom Space website here: 

https://www.axiomspace.com/astronaut/walter-villadei

"Axiom Space is guided by the vision of a thriving home in space that benefits every human, everywhere. The leader in providing space infrastructure as a service, Axiom offers end-to-end missions to the International Space Station today while privately developing its successor—a permanent commercial destination in Earth’s orbit that will sustain human growth off the planet and bring untold benefits back home."

More information:  www.axiomspace.com

Credit: Axiom Space

Duration: 2 minutes, 51 seconds

Release Date: Jan. 11, 2024

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