To the Moon? Space Company Axiom Debuts NFT Art Auction Ahead of ISS Mission

As the hours tick down to the launch of Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) via a SpaceX spaceflight to the International Space Station, Axiom Space is launching an NFT auction with artwork inspired by the mission from a variety of notable artists.

The “Space Grails” auction will debut at 6pm ET Wednesday on Nifty Gateway in partnership with both Axiom Space and Web3 creator platform Transient Labs. The auction spans nine pieces of digital artwork minted as Ethereum NFTs, some of which are paired with physical versions that will be sent to space aboard Axiom Mission 3.

Creators participating in the auction include artists Amber Vittoria and Jack Kaido, photographer Dave Krugman, and Art Blocks founder and CEO Erick “Snowfro” Calderon in collaboration with Prohibition founder Jordan Lyall.

With some pieces, such as Vittoria’s “Everything You Know and Care About” and Krugman’s “Eclipse,” the buyer of the NFT will also receive the physical version after it returns to Earth following the mission.

"As we witness the historic Ax-3 mission, I believe the Space Grails collection will also mark a historic milestone in which eight independent artists came together to push the boundaries of art and space and celebrate the limitless potential of human creativity,” Axiom Space Head of Web3 Mina Salib told Decrypt.

“I'm thankful that artists with such massive appeal are so space-conscious that they committed to the ideal of sharing their physical and digital gifts with the world,” he added. “This collection came from a yearning to celebrate human ingenuity and the creative spirit that connects us all.”

Axiom Mission 3 was slated to launch Wednesday around the same time that the auction begins, but SpaceX announced this morning that the launch will be attempted Thursday instead. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch four international astronauts aboard the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.