IAF’s Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla to become the first Indian to visit the ISS aboard SpaceX’s Ax-4 mission, marking India’s return to human spaceflight after 40 years.
SpaceX has announced that all systems involved in the launch for the Axiom Mission 4 are “looking good” as NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are targeting a 2:31 am EDT (Noon IST) launch on Wednesday for the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
In a post on X, SpaceX on Tuesday (local time) stated that the weather was 90 per cent favourable for liftoff on Wednesday evening (local time).
“All systems are looking good for Wednesday’s launch of Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission to the International Space Station, and weather is 90 per cent favourable for liftoff,” SpaceX stated.
The Axiom-4 mission will be launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The mission holds significant importance for India’s space programme, as the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will be piloted by India’s Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla after launching on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket.
For Group Captain Shukla, this will be an opportunity to emulate fellow Indian Air Force officer Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984, as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme, becoming the first Indian in space.
Group Captain Shukla is now set to rewrite history by becoming the second Indian in space and the first to visit the International Space Station.
The four-member crew, currently in quarantine in Florida, will be commanded by Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and now Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight.
The mission specialists include ESA project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
The Ax-4 mission will “realise the return” to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, with each country marking its first government-sponsored spaceflight in more than 40 years. While Ax-4 will be their second human spaceflight mission historically, it will be the first time all three nations execute a mission aboard the International Space Station.
For ISRO and Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, this mission also sets the stage for India’s ambitious space roadmap including the country’s first human spaceflight mission “Gaganyaan” in 2027 and a plan to land an Indian on the Moon by 2040.
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