Purdue 1 will consist of an all-Purdue 5-person crew, composed of Purdue aerospace engineering professor Steven Collicott, graduate student Abigail Mizzi, and 3 alumni. The 6th seat will be removed to allow space for a payload rack for research experiments.

Professor Collicott is already known for his high-flying experimental endeavors, having taught a zero-gravity flight experiment course for 30 years. As part of the course, Collicott and some of his students experience weightlessness while conducting experiments aboard a parabolic aircraft. But those flights are only able to achieve about 20 seconds of microgravity time, significantly less than what is experienced on a suborbital flight. Collicott plans to use novel testing to gather data on the nonuniform effect of liquid spreading over a surface. Collicott's research received an award from NASA’s Flight Opportunities in 2021, funding his seat on a Virgin Galactic craft to conduct his research.

Graduate student Abigail Mizzi's experiment focuses on the zero-gravity oscillations of liquids set in motion by rotation, such as the motion of rocket propellants sloshing in their tanks after a spacecraft rotates to dock at a space station. This type of flow affects spacecraft control system design and in-space operations planning. Mizzi’s seat on the flight will be funded by donations being accepted by Purdue.

The final 3 seats on the flight will be filled by Purdue alumni, who will buy their seats on Purdue 1. The first of these seats has been announced and will be filled by Jason Williamson, senior vice president of the multidisciplinary design firm Dunaway and Purdue civil engineering graduate. Another seat has been reserved by an unannounced alumna, and the final seat remains open.