Launch of Axiom-4 postponed again, ISRO shares reason
The much-awaited launch of Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed to June 11 owing to weather conditions, ISRO said.
'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 space agency said.
This will be the fourth private astronaut flight from Axiom Space and the first to carry an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS).
Piloted by India's Shubhanshu Shukla, the mission marks a significant milestone, fulfilling the commitment made by US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send an ISRO astronaut to the station and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) collaborates with the Indian space agency in the mission.
The AX-4 crew and SpaceX teams had finished a full rehearsal of launch day activities ahead of its launch on Monday and the mission is set to carry the first astronauts from Hungary and Poland to the space station.
The four crew members in the mission are from the United States, India, Poland and Hungary. Peggy Whitson, the director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space and a former NASA astronaut will spearhead the commercial mission and ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. Apart from that, ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary will be part of the mission.
Notably, the mission assumes significance as Shukla will be the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma, who undertook a spaceflight in 1984. Shukla is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Pune. He was commissioned into the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter wing in June 2006 and became Group Captain in March 2024. Shukla has 2,000 hours of flight experience across various aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32.
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