SpaceX's private Ax-1 astronaut flight cleared for launch pending NASA Artemis 1 moon rocket test

The commercial spaceflight company Axiom Space  is cleared to launch the world's first all-private mission to the International Space Station in April, but only after a critical test of NASA's new Artemis 1 moon rocket.
The Ax-1 mission to the International Space Station passed its flight readiness review Friday (March 25), allowing the launch to proceed no earlier than April 3 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.  The mission will launch from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where SpaceX launches astronaut missions for NASA on Crew Dragon spacecraft. 
On board will be former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría as commander, and paying passengers Larry Connor (the pilot), Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe (both mission specialists). The passengers each paid a reported $55 million for the opportunity.
But NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket, parked at a nearby Launch Pad 39B, will need to complete its so-called "wet dress rehearsal," a vital fueling test, before Axiom Space can proceed with its Ax-1 mission. That fueling test is scheduled to run from April 1 to April 3, NASA has said.
"Artemis 1 has the range," said Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator for NASA’s space operations mission directorate, during a press teleconference Friday. Regarding the Artemis 1 testing, Lueders added, "our plan is to get that done as early as possible."
The wet dress rehearsal will see Artemis 1 do a simulated countdown on the pad to ensure the mission's debut Space Launch System rocket is ready for its first voyage, an uncrewed flight around the moon.
Both Artemis 1 and Axiom 1 are parked nearby each other at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Artemis 1 may be able to complete its wet dress rehearsal on the morning of April 3, at Launch Complex 39B. 
Assuming the rehearsal goes to plan, Axiom 1 may blast off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A that afternoon, at 1:13 p.m. EDT (1713 GMT). But the schedule will be tight and is subject to change, NASA emphasized.