Ax-4 blasts off on key ISS mission with Indian, Polish and Hungarian crew
WASHINGTON, 5 days ago
Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4 mission), a US commercial mission led by SpaceX, Axiom Space and Nasa, blasted off to the International Space Station on Wednesday carrying crew from India, Poland and Hungary, thus marking a historic milestone in commercial spaceflight and international cooperation.
Ax-4, launched from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2.31am local time with a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule riding atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The mission had faced a short delay last week due to a reported leak aboard the ISS.
As per Nasa reports, the vehicle is scheduled to dock with the orbital lab on Thursday and remain there for up to 14 days.
Onboard the spacecraft were the Indian test pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, the mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary, and the US commander Peggy Whitson, a former Nasa astronaut who now works for the company Axiom Space, which organises private spaceflights among other things.
During their two-week stay aboard, the Ax-4 crew will conduct over 60 scientific experiments and educational outreach activities, making this the most science-intensive private mission organised by Axiom Space so far.
In a major milestone for India’s space collaboration, local boy Shubhanshu Shukla is serving as the pilot of the mission. An Indian Air Force test pilot, he is representing ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) in what is being seen as a significant moment in Indo-US space cooperation, reported ANI.
Their research is designed to leverage the unique microgravity environment of the orbital laboratory and will contribute to advancements in science, technology, and international STEM education. The docking event will be streamed live.
This launch is particularly notable as it carries astronauts from India, Hungary, and Poland, a significant achievement and a testament to the expanding global reach of human space exploration, reported The Guardian.
The last time India, Poland or Hungary sent people to space, their current crop of astronauts had not yet been born – and back then they were called cosmonauts, as they flew on Soviet missions before the fall of the iron curtain.
Shukla became the first Indian in space since Rakesh Sharma, an air force pilot who travelled to the Salyut 7 space station in 1984 as part of a Soviet-led initiative to help allied countries access space.
India’s space agency, ISRO, sees this flight as a key stepping stone towards its own maiden crewed mission, planned for 2027 under the Gaganyaan programme, meaning “sky craft” in Hindi.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hailed the successful launch of the Ax-4 space mission. “[Shukla] carries with him the wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians. Wish him and other astronauts all the success!” he wrote on X.
While onboard the ISS, Shukla is widely expected to speak with Modi, in a soft-power moment aimed at stoking national pride.
All three countries are footing the bill for their astronauts. Hungary announced in 2022 it was paying $100m for its seat, according to spacenews.com. India and Poland have not disclosed how much they are spending.
