Axiom-4 mission launch postponed to June 11 due to weather

The launch of the Axiom-4 mission, which will carry an Indian astronaut, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, to the International Space Station (ISS), has been postponed to June 11 due to weather conditions, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

Advertisement

The mission was earlier scheduled for June 10.

Axiom had earlier stated that if the launch would not take place on June 10, it would be on June 11.

“Due to weather conditions, the launch of the Axiom-4 mission for sending Indian Gaganyatri to the International Space Station is postponed from 10^th June 2025 to 11^th June 2025. The targeted time of launch is 5:30 PM IST on 11^th June 2025,” ISRO Chairman Dr V. Narayanan said.

After 41 years, India will again mark its name in the human space flight mission as Shukla will be the second astronaut to visit space. He will also be the first-ever Indian to visit and conduct research on the International Space Station (ISS).

The mission crew will be flying on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.

Shukla will serve as Mission Pilot on the Axiom-4 mission, alongside Commander Peggy Whitson (USA, former NASA astronaut); Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland/ESA); and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu (Hungary/ESA).

The mission crew completed a full rehearsal of launch-day activities ahead of lift-off on Tuesday.

The Axiom-4 crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the ISS from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will dock at the space station on June 11. Once docked, the Ax-4 astronauts will spend about 14 days aboard the space station conducting microgravity research, technology demonstrations, and outreach events.

Shukla represents India’s space ambitions. His experience will also be vital for India’s Gaganyaan mission. Adaptation to microgravity, experiments at ISS will be insightful for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) that has spent Rs 550 crore, in collaboration with Axiom Space, to conduct research experiments aboard the space station.

The Axiom-4 research complement includes around 60 scientific studies and activities representing 31 countries, including the US, India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, UAE, and nations across Europe.

“This will be the most research and science-related activities conducted on an Axiom space mission aboard the ISS underscoring the mission’s global significance and collaborative nature to advance microgravity research in low-Earth orbit (LEO). The mission emphasises scientific portfolios led by the US, India, Poland, and Hungary. It aims to boost participation in these countries by involving diverse stakeholders, showcasing the value of microgravity research, and fostering international collaboration,” Axiom said in a statement.

The studies will enhance global knowledge in human research, Earth observation, and life, biological, and material sciences, demonstrating the space research capabilities of the crew’s home nations.

India will also conduct several experiments, some in association with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The experiments—developed under a collaboration between ISRO and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), with support from NASA—aim to pioneer space nutrition and self-sustaining life support systems vital for future long-duration space travel.

India will examine the impact of microgravity and space radiation on edible microalgae—a high-potential, nutrient-rich food source. The study will focus on key growth parameters and the changes in transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes of various algal species in space compared to Earth conditions.

This is the fourth Axiom Mission to the ISS and the first mission to the space station for India, Hungary and Poland.

Union minister Jitendra Singh said that the space mission is a proud global acknowledgement of India’s space capabilities and a befitting tribute to India’s space founding fathers Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan.

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has been handpicked as one of the four astronauts for ISRO’s Gaganyaan mission. Commissioned into the IAF fighter wing in June 2006, he boasts of an impressive 2,000 hours of flight experience across various aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32. For the spaceflight mission, he was trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Moscow.