After several postponements, Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), carrying ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three other crew members, finally set its journey to the International Space Station on Wednesday.
After several postponements, Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), carrying ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three other crew members, finally set its journey to the International Space Station on Wednesday, with SpaceX reporting 90 per cent favorable weather conditions for launch.
The launch commenced from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew utilised a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, launched via the company's Falcon 9 rocket, for their journey to the space station.
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The scheduled docking is expected at approximately 4.30 pm IST on June 26, according to NASA's statement.
"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," SpaceX, the transport provider for the space mission, announced earlier today on X.
Meet the crew members
Former Nasa astronaut and Axiom Space's director of human spaceflight, Peggy Whitson, will lead the commercial mission, whilst Isro astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla takes the role of pilot.
ESA project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and HUNOR astronaut Tibor Kapu from Hungary will serve as mission specialists.
Axiom-4 has experienced several delays due to poor weather conditions, leaks discovered on SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket, and issues with the Russian module of the International Space Station.
The mission fulfils a commitment between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send the first Isro astronaut to the station, as part of Nasa and Isro's collaboration.
The space organisations are conducting five joint scientific investigations and two inorbit STEM demonstrations.
The private astronauts intend to spend approximately two weeks on the space station, executing scientific research, outreach programmes, and commercial activities.
