The much-postponed Axiom-4 commercial mission to the International Space Station (ISS), which includes Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, is now scheduled for launch on June 19, 2025, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Saturday.
Originally set for May 29, the mission has faced a series of delays due to technical issues — first, a liquid oxygen leak in the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, followed by a pressure anomaly in the Russian Zvezda Service Module aboard the ISS. Earlier revised target dates included June 8, 10, and 11.
ISRO confirmed that the issue with the Falcon 9 rocket has been resolved after a detailed coordination meeting with Axiom Space and SpaceX. “The liquid oxygen leak in the launch vehicle has been successfully addressed,” ISRO stated. Meanwhile, Axiom Space and NASA continue to monitor the pressure irregularity in the ISS’s Zvezda module.
The 14-day Axiom-4 mission will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking a milestone in India’s return to human spaceflight, alongside similar milestones for Poland and Hungary.
The mission will be commanded by Peggy Whitson, a veteran NASA astronaut and Axiom’s director of human spaceflight. Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as the pilot, becoming one of the few Indians to travel to space. The other two crew members are Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland (ESA) and Tibor Kapu of Hungary, both mission specialists.
This mission marks a major step in commercial spaceflight and international astronaut cooperation, while expanding India’s presence in human space exploration.
