25 June 2025: After multiple delays due to a variety of reasons, the much-anticipated Axiom 4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is scheduled to be launched on Wednesday, June 25 at 2.31 am EDT (around 12.00 noon IST).
The mission, if it goes ahead this time, will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The four astronauts set to go for the mission to the ISS will be carried aboard SpaceX’s famous Falcon 9 rocket.
SpaceX, in a post on X, said that all systems are looking good for today’s launch and the weather is also 90 per cent favourable for liftoff.
“All systems are looking good for Wednesday’s launch of @Axiom_Space ’s Ax-4 mission to the @Space_Station and weather is 90% favorable for liftoff,” said SpaceX.
What is Axiom Mission 4?
The Axiom-4 mission is a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station and will “realize the return” to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, with each nation’s first government-sponsored flight in more than 40 years. According to Axiom, the mission will be these countries’ second human spaceflight mission in history but it will be the first time all three nations will execute a mission on board the ISS.
The mission aims to carry around 60 scientific studies and activities representing 31 countries, including India, the US, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, UAE, and nations across Europe.
Who are the crew?
Four astronauts are set to go the ISS under Axiom Mission – Indian Space Research Organisation’s astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson will command the mission, European Space Agency project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu will both serve as mission specialists.
Summary: IAF’s Shubhanshu Shukla lifts off aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 for Axiom-4, becoming India’s first astronaut to visit the ISS with 60 global experiments onboard.