Axiom-4 mission, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to space, will be launched today at 12:01 PM IST from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, United States. In a social media post, ISRO said that the Axiom-4 will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) tomorrow at 4:30 PM IST, about 28 hours after launch. The launch of the Ax-4 mission, which was initially scheduled to take off on May 29, has been repeatedly delayed due to technical issues, weather conditions and leaks on the ISS.
Akashvani Correspondent reports that this historic mission will carry four astronauts from the US, India, Poland, and Hungary to the ISS for a 14-day scientific mission in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The four astronauts on the Axiom-4 (AX-4) mission are Subhanshu Shukla from India, Sławosz Uznański from Poland, Tibor Kapu from Hungary, and Peggy Whitson from the US. Whitson, a NASA astronaut, will serve as Mission Commander, while Shukla becomes India’s second astronaut to travel to space, following Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 mission. Uznański and Kapu represent Poland and Hungary, marking their countries’ second human spaceflight missions in history.
Once they reach the ISS, the astronauts will spend about two weeks on the space station, where they will conduct microgravity research, technology demonstrations, and outreach events. The astronauts will carry out around 60 scientific studies from 31 countries, including several groundbreaking research projects led by ISRO.
Peggy Whitson, Mission Commander, described the mission as a leap forward in advancing scientific knowledge and fostering global space cooperation. The AX-4 mission is set to further deepen the partnerships between NASA, ISRO, and other international space agencies, paving the way for future space exploration.
