SpaceX has confirmed that all systems are “looking good” for the scheduled launch of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) to the International Space Station (ISS), with liftoff set for 2:31 am EDT (12:01 pm IST) on Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In an update posted on X, SpaceX announced that weather conditions are 90% favorable for launch, setting the stage for a milestone in commercial spaceflight and international space cooperation.
The Ax-4 mission is of particular significance for India, as Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force will pilot the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, making him the second Indian in space after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma and the first Indian to travel to the ISS.
This momentous flight is seen as a precursor to India’s ambitious human spaceflight program. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is targeting 2027 for the Gaganyaan mission, with long-term goals including landing an Indian on the Moon by 2040.
Group Captain Shukla will be joined by a diverse international crew:
- Mission Commander Peggy Whitson, a veteran NASA astronaut and now Director of Human Spaceflight at Axiom Space
- Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, ESA project astronaut from Poland
- Tibor Kapu, representing Hungary
The Ax-4 mission marks a return to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, with all three nations launching government-sponsored astronauts for the first time in over four decades. While each country has sent astronauts before, this will be their first participation in a mission aboard the International Space Station.
The crew, currently in pre-launch quarantine in Florida, will lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with their Dragon spacecraft set to dock with the ISS shortly after launch.
This historic flight underscores growing global cooperation in space exploration and the increasing role of commercial and international partnerships in advancing human presence beyond Earth.
