Axiom 4 mission: Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s first space mission gets postponed

New Delhi (India) June 10: Due to bad weather, the Axiom-4 mission, which was scheduled to take Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station (ISS), has been rescheduled for June 11 at 5:30 p.m., the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on June 9.

ISRO posted, “Launch of Axiom-4 mission to International Space Station: Due to weather conditions, the launch of Axiom-4 mission for sending Indian Gaganyatri to International Space Station is postponed from 10th June 2025 to 11th June 2025. The targeted time of launch is 5:30 PM IST on 11th June 2025: Dr V Narayanan, Chairman ISRO/ Secretary DOS / Chairman Space Commission” on social media platform X.

Now, the spacecraft will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 8:00 am ET (5:30 pm IST). 

The Axiom-4 astronauts will be performing outreach activities, technology demonstrations, and microgravity research during their approximately 14-day stay on board the space station after launch.

Union Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh posted,“A proud global acknowledgement of India’s Space capabilities… a befitting tribute to the founding fathers Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan."

India will send its second national astronaut to space with Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla. In a significant step forward for India's space partnership with NASA, he joins Axiom Space's fourth private astronaut mission. After Rakesh Sharma's Soviet mission, he will be the second Indian to travel to space.

According to Axiom Space, the Axiom-4 crew, which includes individuals from India, Poland, and Hungary, is the second government-sponsored human spaceflight mission in more than 40 years and the historic first trip to the space station for each country.

Nearly 60 scientific projects and activities representing 31 countries, including the US, India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, and countries throughout Europe, make up the Axiom-4 research complement.

Axiom-4 will also be the second commercial spaceflight to include national astronauts supported by the European Space Agency and their respective governments. Axiom-4 is seen by India, Poland and Hungary as a sign of opportunity that will allow them to promote their space goals on an international level.

The Axiom-4 will be flown by Group Captain Shukla and the commercial mission will be led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. The crew also includes Tibor Kapu from Hungary and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland, who are both European Space Agency project astronauts.

The crew of the Axiom-4 is under quarantine at the moment. The launch has been rescheduled three times now.

Aadrika Tayal