AXIOM-4 launch postponed to June 11

Jun 09, 2025

NEW DELHI: Due to weather conditions, the launch of Axiom-4 mission carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station has been postponed to June 11, the ISRO said on Monday evening.

SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket was scheduled to blast off from the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) in Florida on Tuesday evening.

"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," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan said.

Shukla's travel to space marks India's return to human spaceflight 41 years after Rakesh Sharma scripted history by undertaking a journey to space onboard Soviet Russia's Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.

The Lucknow-born Shukla, who goes by the call sign ‘Shuks', is part of an ISRO-NASA supported commercial spaceflight by Axiom Space where all the customers are national governments.

The Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission comprises Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot Shukla and specialists Tigor Kapu of Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland.

The 14-day mission will "realise the return" to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary.