After multiple delays, Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom-4 mission (Ax-4) to the International Space Station (ISS) was launched on Wednesday (June 25, 2025) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In his first message from the mission, Shubhanshu Shukla said that this is not the start of his journey, but the start of India’s human space programme.
“Namaskar my dear countrymen. What a ride. After 40 years we have once again reached space and it was an amazing ride. On my shoulders I have my tri-colour which is telling me that I am not alone and that you are all with me,” he said.
Group Captain Shukla’s who is the pilot of the Ax-4 mission along with other four crew members Commander Peggy Whitson of the U.S., Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary embarked on a 28 hour journey to the ISS on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the Falcon 9 rocket.
