IAF Group Capt Subhanshu Shukla joins 4-member crew ahead of Axiom 4 mission launch: Jitendra Singh

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday provided an update on the much-awaited Axiom-4 mission, stating that the private spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS), piloted by Indian Air Force Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla, is scheduled for takeoff around 12.01 pm IST today.

Singh took to social media platform X and said, “Update on #AXIOM4 Mission to International Space Station (ISS): Indian astronaut Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla formally joins the other three crew members for the much-awaited launch, as of now, scheduled around 12:01 pm IST today”.

Update on #AXIOM4 Mission to International Space Station (ISS):

Indian astronaut Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla formally joins the other three crew members for the much-awaited launch, as of now, scheduled around 12:01 PM IST today. pic.twitter.com/xcxK49u6x4

— Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) June 25, 2025

The Axiom-4 mission is targeting a launch window of 2:31 am EDT, or 12 noon IST, on Wednesday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in the US. The crew, piloted by Group Captain Shukla, will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. The targeted docking time is approximately 7 am EDT on Thursday or 4 pm IST.

The four-member crew which has been in quarantine in Florida will be commanded by Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and now Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight. The mission specialists are ESA project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.

The Ax-4 mission will “realize the return” to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, with each nation’s first government-sponsored flight in more than 40 years. While Ax-4 marks these countries’ second human spaceflight mission in history, it will be the first time all three nations will execute a mission on board the International Space Station.

For Group Captain Shukla this will be an opportunity to emulate fellow Indian Air Force Officer Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984 as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme. Sharma spent seven days in space on board the Salyut 7 space station. (ANI)