By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – NASA on Wednesday reported that the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), a landmark private spaceflight to the International Space Station will launch on Wednesday from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA and SpaceX, organized the mission, which features a diverse international crew and marks a major step forward in commercial and global space exploration.
It is scheduled to lift off at 2:31 a.m. EDT (12:01 p.m. IST) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the mission will transport four astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, propelled into orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket. Docking with the ISS is expected at around 7:00 a.m. EDT (4:30 p.m. IST) on Thursday, June 26.
SpaceX posted on X ahead of the launch “All systems are looking good for Wednesday’s launch of @Axiom_Space’s Ax-4 mission to the @Space_Station and weather is 90 per cent favorable for liftoff. Webcast starts at 12:30 a.m.”.
The crew included Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, representing ISRO, who will serve as the mission’s pilot. He is joined by veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
India, Hungary, and Poland, this mission signifies a return to human spaceflight after a long hiatus.
NASA confirmed the final schedule via its official X handle, “With @Axiom_Spaceand @SpaceX, we’re now targeting Wednesday, June 25, to launch #Ax4 to the @Space_Station. The four-member crew, including astronauts from @ESA and @ISRO, is scheduled to lift off at 2:31am ET (0631 UTC).”
Axiom-4 has experienced multiple delays leading up to Wednesday’s launch.
Initial postponements were due to unfavourable weather conditions, followed by technical issues, including detected leaks in the Falcon 9 rocket. After a thorough review and resolution of the problems, the launch was cleared.
Space X noted that this is the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS under Axiom Space’s expanding program, signalling growing international interest in commercial space missions and partnerships.
