Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday announced that the successful launch of Axiom-4 mission to send Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed from June 10.
Launch Rescheduled Due to Weather Conditions
ISRO attributed the delay in Axiom-4 or Ax4 mission to weather conditions, which will now be launched on June 11 with the target launch window time being 5:30 pm (8 am EST).
“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,” posted ISRO on X.
Shubhanshu Shukla to Make History with Axiom-4 Launch
Shubhanshu Shukla will make history by becoming the first Indian to travel to the International Space Station. Shukla’s journey to space is also India’s second human spaceflight mission, 41 years after Rakesh Sharma wrote history by embarking on a space journey aboard Soviet Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.
Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Shubhanshu Shukla, the pilot of the mission, and three others will be aboard SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket that is scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) in Florida on June 11.
Besides Shubhanshu Shukla, the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission includes Commander Peggy Whitson, experts Tigor Kapu from Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland.
Mission Activities and Interaction Plans of Axiom-4 Launch
During their 14-day mission aboard the ISS, the Ax-4 astronauts are to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, school children, and industry leaders in the space sector among others besides conducting the experiments and tasks.
Ax-4 astronauts and SpaceX personnel conducted a complete rehearsal of launch day operations on Sunday in preparation for liftoff.
“A proud global acknowledgement of India’s Space capabilities… a befitting tribute to the founding fathers Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan,” Science and technology minister Jitendra Singh had said.
Planned Experiments and International Collaboration
Shubhanshu Shukla will be performing sole food and nutrition-based experiments designed under a joint endeavor between the ISRO and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) with the assistance of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The experiments are meant to innovate space nutrition and closed-loop life support systems crucial for long-duration space travel in the future.
ISRO has scheduled a series of seven experiments for Shubhanshu Shukla, besides participating in five collaborative studies scheduled by NASA for its human research programme.
