Axiom 4 Mission Live: Shubhanshu Shukla enters the International Space Station with the Axiom-4 crew
26 Jun 2025 | 07:45:09 PM IST
Axiom 4 Mission Launch Live: Shubhanshu Shukla enters the International Space Station with the Axiom crew. Axiom 4 Mission Launch Live: Axiom-4 mission carrying Shubhanshu Shukla and crew launched successfully from Kennedy Space Centre on June 25. The spacecraft docked at ISS successfully at 4:01 PM IST.
Read more at: Indian enters International Space Station: Shubhanshu Shukla & crew dock successfully The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying four Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew members including Mission Pilot Group Captain Shbhansu Shukla, is orbiting Earth and on its way to the International Space Station after launching from Kennedy Space Centre at noon on Indian Standard Time (IST) Wednesday .Dragon is also carrying Ax-4 Commander Peggy Whitson, and Mission Specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski and Tibor Kapu and will dock to the Harmony module's space-facing port at 4:30 pm IST today.NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers will be on duty at the beginning of their shift, monitoring Dragon during its automated approach and rendezvous manoeuvres. After docking, the Ax-4 astronauts will greet the seven Expedition 73 crewmates, call down to Earth for welcoming remarks, then participate in a safety briefing with the station residents.Meanwhile, McClain and Ayers, along with the rest of the station crew, worked a normal shift on Wednesday, keeping up with microgravity research and lab maintenance.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.Live coverage of the Axiom-4 mission spacecraft will begin at 2:00 PM IST. Show more Was looking forward to this. Crew made me feel welcome and opened their doors for us, Shukla added. Shubhanshu Shukla talks in Hindi, thanks Indians for the love and blessings. He adds that he is looking forward for the next 14 days at the International Space Station. Shubhanshu Shukla is Astronaut #634. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Mission commander Peggy calls for hatch opening. "Waiting the go for hatch opening," she says while waiting inside the Ax-4 Dragon spacecraft. The crew seems all excited to enter and float in the ISS, says SpaceX. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: The Ax-4 crew will soon meet the ISS team for the welcome remarks. NASA Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Ax-4 mission crew members Shubhanshu Shukla and others have reached the space.They will soon step out of the Dragon spacecraft after the pressurisation process is complete. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: The International Space Centre will deliver welcome remarks to Shubhanshu Shukla and crew at 7:05 PM IST after the Ax-4 mission team makes its way to ISS vessel. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: ISS is troubleshooting an audio communication issue in the spacecraft. The communication is disconnected for 5 mins amid issues in audio. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: The ISS shared that the hatches will be opened after 2 hours of checking the vessel and correcting pressure in the Dragon spacecraft. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Axiom-4 mission receives first welcome remark from International Space Station saying "We are excited to welcome you...will see you soon.""We are honoured to be here," replies Peggy from Ax-4. NASA Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Dragon Grace completes docking sequence at ISS. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Dragon Grace spacecraft completes hard capture between Dragon and ISS.Once docking completes, the ISS will establish umbilical connection with Dragon, supplying electricity to the spacecraft. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: After soft capturing of the Axiom-4 mission at the ISS, NASA confirms first set of docking completed. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Dragon Grace spacecraft carrying pilot Shubhanshu Shukla and crew makes its first soft contact with the ISS dock area at 6:31 AM EST. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Dragon Grace moves past Waypoint 2 and approaches ISS for docking. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Ax-4 is about to reach Waypoint 2, located 20m away from the International Space Station (ISS).The crew plans to pass the milestone without a hault. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Dragon Grace spacecraft carrying Shukla and crew crosses Waypoint 1 which is just 220m away from the International Space Station. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: As soon as the Dragon Grace spacecraft crosses Waypoint 1 milestone, it will docking access from the International Space Station. The spacecraft will align itself to move towards the docking area of the ISS. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Dragon Grace spacecraft carrying Axiom-4 mission has crossed a major milestone Waypoint 0, located 400m away from ISS. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Dragon spacecraft carrying Axiom-4 mission crew is just 9 minutes away from its next major milestone - Waypoint 1 which is only 220m away from ISS docking site. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Shubhanshu Shukla and Peggy Whitson making the Dragon spacecraft ready for docking at ISS.(Source: NASA) Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Visuals from the International Space Centre spotting the Dragon spacecraft of Axiom-4 Mission. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: The International Space Centre is in focus of the Dragon spacecraft's camera."Dragon seems to be looking up to ISS as the journey continues," said SpaceX. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: ISS announces latest dock timing for Axiom-4. The Dragon spacecraft is expected to dock at around 6:18 AM EST (3:48 PM IST). Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: NASA, SpaceX and Axiom Space collaboratively start livestreaming the Axiom-4 spacecraft.
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Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Once the Axiom-4 spacecraft docks at the International Space Station (ISS), expedition 73 crew members, including NASA astronauts, Nicole Ayers, Anne McClain, and Jonny Kim, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov, and Alexey Zubritsky will welcome the astronauts. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Ax-4 mission spacecraft is running ahead of schedule. The vessel may dock around 6:30 AM EST (4:00 PM IST).
"The spacecraft is ahead of schedule and may autonomously dock about 30 minutes early at approximately 6:30 a.m. to the space-facing port of the space station's Harmony module," NASA said. Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: "I am learning many new things here. Learning how to eat, learning how to control yourself, learning everything new...I am learning like a baby," said Shubhanshu Shukla while sharing updates from space on Day-2 of Axiom-4 mission, soon to land on International Space Station (ISS).
Read More: Shubhanshu Shukla explains why he is feeling like a baby in space
Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: A Group Captain in the Indian Air Force, Shubhanshu Shukla was selected to be part of India's astronaut corps in 2019 along with fellow officers Prasanth Balkrishnan Nair, Angad Pratap and Ajit Krishnan for the Gaganyaan mission which is likely to be launched in 2027.Born on October 10, 1985, in Lucknow, Shukla did his schooling from City Montessori School before joining the National Defence Academy.He was commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 2006, and has over 2,000 hours of flying time on a wide range of aircraft including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Jaguar, and Dornier-228.He holds an MTech in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.Shukla and the three other Gaganyaan astronaut designates underwent extensive training at Russia's Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre and ISRO's Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru.Shukla's crewmates on the Axiom-4 mission, commander Peggy Whitson and mission specialists Tibor Kapu from Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland, describe him as "operational-savvy", "focused" and "wicked smart" when it comes to space technologies. Axiom 4 mission live updates: Shukla is set to conduct exclusive food and nutrition-related experiments developed under a collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), with support from NASA.The experiments aim to pioneer space nutrition and self-sustaining life support systems vital for future long-duration space travel.ISRO has lined up a set of seven experiments for Shukla, who will also participate in five joint studies planned by NASA for its human research program.It has drawn up plans to focus on India-centric food for carrying out experiments on the ISS, including sprouting methi (fenugreek) and moong (green gram) in microgravity conditions.Shukla will also expose the seeds to the macrobiotic conditions and bring them back to earth where they will be cultivated into plants not just once but over generations.Shukla's experience on the Axiom Mission 4 would be very well utilised on the ISRO's Gaganyaan space flight mission which is planned for 2027. ISRO is spending Rs 550 crore on the Axiom-4 mission.
Read More: Shubhanshu Shukla Space Experiments: Indian astronaut to grow methi, moong daal and study tardigrades in microgravity
Axiom 4 Mission Live Updates: Axiom-4 was launched successfully at 12:01 PM IST on Wednesday.The Axiom-4 mission launched on June 25, 2025, at 12:01 PM IST from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Shubhanshu Shukla, the Group Captain became the first Indian to visit the International Space Station (ISS). He is the second Indian in space, after Rakesh Sharma in 1984. Other crew members include Peggy Whitson (USA), Tibor Kapu (Hungary), and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland). The mission uses a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket operated by Axiom Space.
Shukla will perform 7 India-led experiments, including work on seeds, algae, and human physiology in microgravity.
Prime Minister Modi called it a proud moment for 1.4 billion Indians.
The mission will dock with the ISS on June 26 and last about two weeks.
Rakesh Sharma gave his blessings and shared advice with Shukla ahead of the mission.
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