Axiom Space

Axiom Space launched in 2016 with a straightforward ambition: become the first company to own and operate a commercial space station. Founders Michael Suffredini, who ran NASA's International Space Station program for a decade, and Kam Ghaffarian, an engineer who built Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies into a major NASA contractor, brought deep institutional knowledge from the start. Houston has remained the company's home base.

The company made history in April 2022 when Axiom Mission 1 became the first fully private crewed mission to dock with the ISS. Three more private missions followed by 2025, each carrying a mix of paying customers, researchers, and astronauts from allied nations. These flights generate revenue while the company builds toward its bigger goal: Axiom Station, a modular outpost that will initially attach to the ISS and later detach to fly free in low Earth orbit.

Beyond stations, Axiom holds a $228 million NASA contract to develop next-generation spacesuits for the Artemis III moon mission, with delivery expected by 2027. The company employs roughly 800 people and reported $400 million in revenue for 2023. In February 2026, Axiom raised $350 million in a round co-led by the Qatar Investment Authority and Type One Ventures, bringing total funding past $1.1 billion and pushing its valuation above $2.5 billion. [edit]