Founder, The Connor Group · Challenger Deep diver · ISS astronaut, Axiom-1
b. 1950 · Axiom-1 mission 2022 · Challenger Deep 2021
“I want to inspire the next generation of explorers — the kids who look at the ocean and think 'what's down there?'”
Caladan Oceanic / Axiom Space press, 2021–2022.
DSV Limiting Factor
Larry Connor is the multi-domain billionaire-adventurer who has gone both directions from sea level. In 2021 he co-piloted DSV Limiting Factor to Challenger Deep (the deepest point in the Mariana Trench) with Victor Vescovo, becoming one of the few civilians to make that descent. In April 2022 he flew to the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-1 mission, the first all-private crewed visit to the ISS. He paid for his own seat and trained for two years. Connor flies aerobatic aircraft, dives technically, and operates The Connor Group — a real-estate investment firm — out of Ohio.
Connor has funded education-access programmes through The Connor Group's Kids & Community Partners. On the ocean side, he funded scientific work conducted during his Challenger Deep dives and is a vocal advocate for civilian-funded research at the boundary of exploration and science. He is widely described in expedition circles as one of the small group of people who personally underwrites the next generation of private deep-ocean and space programmes.
DSV Limiting Factor (Triton 36000/2) — piloted with Vescovo at Challenger Deep, 2021. Axiom Ax-1 Crew Dragon — first all-private ISS mission, 2022.
Connor's profile is the archetype Wind Voyage is built for: self-made, restless, sees the ocean as a frontier rather than as a backdrop. A 110-metre wind-powered explorer fits exactly between the submarine and the space capsule — it is the long-duration platform Connor's worldview implies.
If ocean voyaging is something you’d like to pursue, we have developed a way to do it using wind and solar power out of our respect for the oceans.
Discover the FlagshipYes — in 2021 Larry Connor co-piloted DSV Limiting Factor with Victor Vescovo to Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the Mariana Trench. He is one of fewer than 30 people in history to have reached that depth.
Yes — in April 2022 Connor flew to the ISS as pilot of the Axiom Ax-1 mission, the first all-private crewed visit to the space station. He paid for his own seat and trained for two years for the flight.
Connor founded The Connor Group, a real-estate investment firm headquartered in Ohio. He is also a competitive aerobatic pilot, technical diver, and is widely described in expedition circles as one of the small group who underwrites the next generation of civilian deep-ocean and space programmes.
