 "Piloted by India's Shubhanshu Shukla, Ax-4 to lift off on June 8 for space station")
The Axiom-4 mission (Ax-4) to the International Space Station (ISS) piloted by India’s Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is all set to blast off on June 8, Axiom Space announced in a late-night post.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 39a at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and carry the Ax-4 crew aboard a Dragon spacecraft to the ISS. The launch will take place at 6:40 pm IST.
Interestingly, Shukla and his other crew members will fly to space from the same launch pad as Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who set foot on the moon. Also, Shukla’s travel to ISS comes four decades after Rakesh Sharma’s iconic spaceflight onboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.
About the Ax-4 mission
Besides Shukla, the Ax-4 crew includes members from Poland and Hungary, marking each nation’s first mission to the ISS in history and the second government-sponsored human spaceflight mission in over 40 years.
Shukla will conduct seven experiments in space that are aimed at encouraging microgravity research in India, which hopes to build its space station by 2035 and send astronauts to the moon by 2047.
The Ax-4 crew will spend 14 days orbiting the laboratory.
NASA has previously overseen three private astronaut missions to the ISS. Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) took place in April 2022, lasting 17 days. Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) followed in May 2023, with four private astronauts spending eight days in orbit. The most recent mission, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3), launched in January 2024, with its crew staying aboard the ISS for 18 days.
India’s space ambitions
India is already gearing up for its upcoming Gaganyaan mission, the country’s first human spaceflight programme. Shukla has already been designated as a key astronaut-designate for that mission. His 14-day stay at the ISS will help him gain required experience for the upcoming challenges.
India’s Gaganyaan mission’s objective is to send a three-member crew into a 400 km low Earth orbit for a mission lasting up to three days. For this ambitious mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has partnered with Nasa and Axiom Space.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe Isro got a seat reserved for an Indian astronaut for the Axiom Mission 4 through an agreement.
With inputs from agencies
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