After multiple delays, the Axiom-4 mission is expected to lift off tomorrow, with SpaceX’s spanking a new Dragon spacecraft set to carry India’s Shubanshu Shukla to the International Space Station (ISS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on Wednesday.
The mission, led by Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA and SpaceX, is eyeing a new launch date for its fourth private astronaut mission to the orbital outpost on June 25 at 12:01 pm (ISD). According to the American space agency, the crew is expected to dock with the ISS around 4:30 pm IST on June 26, after a spaceflight lasting approximately 28 hours and 30 minutes.
Once onboard, the crew will spend 14 days on the ISS, conducting nearly 60 scientific experiments. Among them, seven have been developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in collaboration with Indian scientists from leading research institutions and universities.
Shukla will carry out a range of experiments on microgravity, covering topics from muscle regeneration to space farming. One experiment, designed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, will study how humans interact with electronic displays in microgravity. Several other experiments will focus on microalgae, including spirulina and cyanobacteria, to explore their potential as space food by analysing their growth under different growth conditions in the space.
Group Captain Shukla, who will be piloting the Ax-4 mission, is poised to make history as the first Indian to fly to ISS and only the second to travel to space. His journey comes 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian in space, spending nearly eight days aboard a Russian space station in 1984.
The mission will be commanded by veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, with mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, completing the crew. The spacecraft will be launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket, also developed by SpaceX. During his stay aboard the ISS, Shukla is also expected to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, school students, and space industry leaders, further strengthening global and national engagement with the mission.
And as a reminder of home, Shukla revealed during a press briefing on June 3 that he would be carrying a taste of India with him—’aam ras’, ‘gajar ka halwa’, and ‘moong dal halwa’—offering a sweet nod to the life he leaves behind, even if just for a few days.