Axiom-4 Mission / Shubhanshu Shukla created history, Axiom-4 mission left for space

Finally, after a long wait, the Axiom-4 mission carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three other passengers took off for the International Space Station. The mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center at 12:01 pm on Wednesday with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

Axiom-4 Mission: Finally, after a long wait and many obstacles, the Axiom-4 Mission carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three other passengers has left for the International Space Station (ISS). The mission was launched as scheduled from Kennedy Space Center, Florida at 12:01 pm on Wednesday. This historic flight was carried out through SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

Weather and preparation favorable

SpaceX informed on social media platform X that all systems are in perfect condition for Wednesday's launch and the weather is about 90% favorable. NASA, SpaceX and Axiom Space jointly made extensive preparations to make this fourth private crew mission a success.

Crew and their roles

This mission is being commanded by former NASA astronaut and currently Human Spaceflight Director at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson. Shubhanshu Shukla, selected from India's ISRO, has been given the responsibility as the pilot. He is accompanied by two mission specialists:

Slavoj Uznanski-Wisniewski – ESA project astronaut from Poland

Tibor Kapu – HUNOR space program participant from Hungary

Reasons for delay

The mission was earlier scheduled to launch on May 29, but was postponed several times due to bad weather, technical problems with the Falcon 9 rocket and leaks in the Russian module of the ISS. It was then postponed to June 8, 10 and 11 as well, but now finally the flight was successful.

Who is Shubhanshu Shukla?

Shubhanshu Shukla, who is now adding a new chapter to India's space sector, was earlier an Indian Air Force officer. In 2006, he joined the fighter stream and became a fighter combat leader and test pilot. He has 2000+ hours of flying experience on aircraft like Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Donier and Hawk.

In 2019, he applied to ISRO for the Gaganyaan mission and after being selected, underwent special space training in Russia and Bengaluru.

Educational background

Born in Lucknow, Shubhanshu did his schooling from City Montessori School, Lucknow and then pursued an M.Tech degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.