Axiom Space has launched a new program that allows countries to create manned spaceflight programs without the need to develop their own infrastructure or other capabilities. Announced April 17, the Axiom Space Access Program offers countries a multi-layered approach to flying their own astronauts as well as researching the International Space Station or future commercial space station Axiom.

Teipaul Bhatia, Axiom’s chief revenue officer, said in an interview at the 38th Space Symposium that the program is effectively a “space program in a box.” “The key is turnkey access at affordable, stable and predictable rates.”

Axiom provides advice and information to countries at a basic level and gives them priority access to future missions. The second level provides the research and research activities of the counties. The third level offers regular human flights into space. The fourth level offers countries the opportunity to jointly develop parts of the Axiom station.

The first country to join the program is Azerbaijan, which will collaborate with Axiom on satellite solutions and inspire students in space research and development. Alongside New Zealand and Uzbekistan are the Rakia Mission, an Israeli space education and research organization that joined the exclusive Ax-1 astronaut mission to the ISS a year ago.

Italy is another country that works with Axiom in a partnership that goes back to 2018. The Italian astronaut is currently scheduled to fly to the ISS with the Axiom Ax-3 mission scheduled for late 2023. Two astronauts from Saudi Arabia fly on the Ax-2 mission in May.

“It’s been very a la carte with customers today and it’s built on the old cost-per-kilo model,” Bhatia said. “We are now trying to build a long-term relationship with them.”

Governments form part of the overall customer base that Axiom envisions for its commercial modules for the ISS and future space station. “There’s a limited number of customers, you know who the buyers are, and they have a budget,” he said.

The second part of the market consists of private cosmonauts. “They want to leave. They find us,” he said. “It’s not about convincing them they have to go. It’s a question of how you get them to act.”

The third and potentially the largest segment of the market is companies. “This is the future of Axiom where value like the Internet is truly created,” Bhatia said.

The challenge is to convince companies that they can do research and development that will be profitable in space. “There’s been a big splash, with scientific experiments in space and reports of a potential return to a point where the CEO of a Fortune 100 company can go to Wall Street analysts and say, ‘I’m going to make it big.'” investments,” he said.

The key is to convince companies that space offers an “internet moment” for their industry. “It’s still an experiment, it’s still emotional,” he said. He suggested that one way to open these commercial markets was to find business executives who were personally passionate about space and willing to take risks in space exploration.

“Once that happens,” he said, “everyone in the industry will want to do it.”