Axiom-4 Launch With Shubhanshu Shukla On Board Rescheduled To June 11

Photo: @Space_Station

India-West News Desk

HOUSTON, TX- The Axiom-4 space mission, which includes Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, has been rescheduled. Its launch is now set for June 11.

The mission was initially planned for an earlier date, but the delay is due to final technical checks and mission readiness reviews. This flight is a joint effort by Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX.

Just before this new launch date, on June 9, the Ax-4 crew and SpaceX teams successfully practiced all their launch day activities.

For India, this mission is a huge moment. Shubhanshu Shukla will be representing the country on a commercial spaceflight.

Shukla, a 39-year-old Indian Air Force fighter pilot, will be the second Indian astronaut to travel to space since 1984.

He received extensive training, first at Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in 2020, and then at ISRO’s own center in Bengaluru.

Shukla has shared that his journey on Axiom Mission 4, and the planned 14 days on the International Space Station (ISS), will offer “invaluable” lessons he can bring back to India.

Axiom Space notes that this mission marks the first government-sponsored human spaceflight in over 40 years for India, Poland, and Hungary. (With ANI Inputs)