Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others aboard the Dragon spacecraft ahead of the launch of the Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station, at the Kennedy Space Centre, in Florida, USA. (X/@Axiom_Space)
After multiple delays, Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom-4 mission (Ax-4) to the International Space Station (ISS) was launched on Wednesday (June 25, 2025) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Group Captain Shukla’s who is the pilot of the Ax-4 mission along with other four crew members Commander Peggy Whitson of the U.S., Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary embarked on a 28 hour journey to the ISS on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the Falcon 9 rocket.
The targeted docking time at the orbiting laboratory is approximately 7 a.m. Eastern Time (4.30 p.m. IST) on June 26. The Axiom Mission 4 crew will spend up to 14 days at the ISS.
Group Captain Shukla will become the first Indian astronaut to go to the ISS, and the first Indian to go to space in the last 40 years.
Rakesh Sharma was the last Indian to go to space when he travelled to space in 1984 onboard the erstwhile Soviet Union’s Soyuz spacecraft.
On Wednesday at 12.01 p.m., the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, and approximately 10 minutes after lift off, the Dragon separated from the second stage of the rocket, and the Dragon nosecone open sequence began.
Post docking the crew members will spend 14 days onboard the ISS conducting science, outreach, and commercial activities.
The Ax-4 research complement includes around 60 scientific studies and activities representing 31 countries, including the U.S., India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, UAE, and nations across Europe.
ISRO has shortlisted seven microgravity research experiments proposed by Indian (PIs) from various national R&D laboratories and academic institutions which Group Captain Shukla would be conducting during his 14-day stay at the ISS.
ISRO and NASA will also be participating in five joint science investigations and two in-orbit STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) demonstrations.
The crew had been in quarantine since May 25, 2025 as the launch originally targeted on May 29, 2025, however it was deferred multiple times due to various reasons ranging from observation in electrical harness in Crew Dragon Module, delay in preparedness of the Falcon 9 vehicle, unfavourable weather, liquid oxygen leak on Falcon 9 and a snag in the Zvezda service module aboard the ISS.
Published – June 25, 2025 12:06 pm IST
