Axiom-4 Mission With Indian Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla Postponed; Here's Why - DETAILS

Florida: The launch of the Axiom-4 mission, carrying Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station (ISS), has been postponed. The mission will now be launched on June 11. Notably, SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket was scheduled to blast off from the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) in Florida on Tuesday evening (local time).

Shukla's travel to space marks India's return to human spaceflight almost 41 years after Rakesh Sharma Notably, Sharma had scripted history by undertaking a journey to space onboard Soviet Russia's Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.

Why The Mission Was Postponed?

The Axion-4 Mission was postponed due to bad weather conditions. "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," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan said as quoted by PTI.

Members Of Axiom-4 Mission:

The Lucknow-born Group Captain Shukla goes by the call sign 'Shuks'. The Indian Air Force (IAF) officer is part of an ISRO-NASA-supported commercial spaceflight by Axiom Space where all the customers are national governments.

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.

The Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission comprises Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot Shukla and specialists Tigor Kapu of Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland.

In the 14-day mission, reportedly 60 experiments will be conducted. These experiments will range from life science to technology demonstrations.

Published on: Tuesday, June 10, 2025, 10:26 AM IST