January 18, 2024, at 4:49 p.m. EST

SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches Axiom Mission 3, the third private spaceflight participant mission to the International Space Station from Florida's Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A.

The crew Dragon “Freedom” spacecraft carried former NASA astronaut and commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Walter Villadei of Italy, and mission specialists Marcus Wandt of Sweden/ESA and the first Turkish astronaut, Alper Gezeravcı of Türkiye Uzay Ajansı.

Eight and a half minutes after liftoff, the rocket's reusable first stage booster B1080 landed at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.​