MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. — An Ohio business executive is expected to blast off into space this week in the first all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. 

Larry Connor, the owner of The Connor Group in Dayton, is taking his love of flying to all new heights. 

“I’m thrilled and honored to be representing the Greater Dayton area and also the state of Ohio," Connor said.

He will pilot the Axiom Mission, the first all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. Connor has trained moer than 1,000 hours and spent about a year training.

(Photo courtesy of SpaceX)

“The training has been very thorough, very intense, and very rigorous both at SpaceX and at NASA," he said.

But Connor made it a point that they’re not just doing it to be in space, his crew is also conducting critical research along the way, including for the Cleveland Clinic. Connor made sure his Dayton and Ohio roots are in full force in space, as he’s bringing along a few things to remind him of all those that have come before him.

“From the Wright Brothers, their 1903 Kittyhawk flyer, a piece of cloth I’m going to take to space and bring it back down," Connor said. "Second, from the Neil Armstrong museum, I’m bringing three different items, one of which is John Glenn’s. So hopefully in some small way we’re going to represent the Dayton area and the great state of Ohio.”

(Photo courtesy of Axiom Space)

Connor is excited for the long-awaited mission and sad he hopes young kids in Dayton see him and know they can go to space one day too.

“The message is that a middle-class kid from Dayton, Ohio can do this, so can you," he said.

The Ax-1 mission is set to launch Friday from the Kennedy Space Center at about 11:17 AM. The prelaunch activities, launch and docking coverage will be live-streamed here.