Astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary blast off on a privately funded trip to the space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- India, Poland and Hungary launched their first astronauts in more than 40 years Wednesday, sending them on a private flight to the International Space Station.

The three countries shared the tab for the two-week mission. Axiom Space, the Houston company that arranged the deal, put the ticket price at more than $65 million per customer.

SpaceX’s Falcon rocket blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center two weeks late because of space station leak concerns. The capsule on top carried not only the three newcomers to space — none of whom were alive when their countries’ first astronauts launched — but America’s most experienced astronaut, Peggy Whitson.

Besides Whitson, the crew includes India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, a pilot in the Indian Air Force; Hungary’s Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer; and Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, a radiation expert and one of the European Space Agency’s project astronauts sometimes pressed into temporary duty.

The astronauts are due to arrive at the orbiting lab the next morning.

In addition to dozens of experiments, the astronauts are flying food that celebrates their heritage: Indian curry and rice with mango nectar; spicy Hungarian paprika paste; and freeze-fried Polish pierogies.

Hungary’s first astronaut, Bertalan Farkas, cheered on Kapu from the launch site.

“For such a small country as Hungary, it is really important to collaborate in a peaceful international space cooperation,” Farkas told The Associated Press. He called it “one of the most important moments" of his life.

Farkas launched with the Soviets in 1980, taking along a teddy bear in a cosmonaut suit that went back up with Kapu. India and Poland’s original astronauts also launched with the Soviets in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Uznanski-Wisniewski carried up the Polish flag worn on his predecessor’s spacesuit, noting that Miroslaw Hermaszewski was his biggest supporter until his death in 2022. India’s first astronaut, Rakesh Sharma, couldn’t make it to Florida for the launch; Shukla said he’s been a mentor “at every step of this journey” and is flying a surprise gift for him.

While others born in India and Hungary have flown in space before — including NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who died aboard the shuttle Columbia in 2003, and two-time space tourist Charles Simonyi, of Microsoft fame — they were U.S. citizens at the time of launch.

Shukla said before the flight that he hopes “to ignite the curiosity of an entire generation in my country” and drive innovation. Like his crewmates, he plans several outreach events with those back home.

“I truly believe that even though I, as an individual, am traveling to space, this is the journey of 1.4 billion people,” he said.

It was Axiom’s fourth chartered flight to the space station since 2022 and Whitson’s second time flying as an Axiom crew commander and chaperone. The trip caused her to miss her induction into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame late last month, since she was in quarantine before the flight. Whitson joined Axiom after retiring from NASA nearly a decade ago and has logged almost two years in orbit over her career.

Once opposed to nontraditional station guests, NASA now throws out the welcome mat, charging for their food and upkeep while insisting that an experienced astronaut accompany them.

It’s all part of NASA’s push to open space — moon included — to private businesses. Axiom is among several U.S. companies planning to launch their own space stations in the next few years. The goal is for them to be up and running before the international station comes down in 2031 after more than three decades of operation.

Access to space “is not only for the biggest agencies anymore — space is for everyone,” Poland’s Uznanski-Wisniewski said ahead of liftoff. He repeated the sentiment upon reaching orbit.

Hungarians want to “sit at the same table with the giants,” said Kapu. Through this mission, “Hungary gets one step closer to the stars.”

They should have flown earlier this year, but their mission was delayed following a switch in SpaceX capsules. The change enabled NASA’s two stuck astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return to Earth in March sooner than planned.

The Axiom astronauts faced more launch delays once arriving in Florida. SpaceX had to fix an oxygen leak in its rocket, then NASA put the crew’s visit on indefinite hold while monitoring repairs to longtime air leaks on the Russian side of the space station.

Once in orbit, the astronauts radioed messages in their native languages and revealed the name they gave to their brand-new capsule: Grace.

“Good things come to those who wait," SpaceX told the crew. "Godspeed to the maiden crew of Grace.”

SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk’s Falcon rockets launching from Florida and California are considerably smaller than the Starships making test flights out of Texas and, this year, exploding one after the other. Reliable frequent flyers, Falcons have been carrying crews to orbit since 2020.

NASA needs Starship for the moon, while Musk envisions it for Mars travel.

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