Indian Air Force (IAF) officer and ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is about to turn into the pilot for NASA’s Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) which is a non-public spaceflight to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in summers 2025.
Image courtesy: @Axiom_Space/X
Indian Air Force (IAF) officer and ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is about to turn into the pilot for NASA’s Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) which is a non-public spaceflight to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in summers 2025.
The Axiom Mission will take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida onboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and can make Shubhanshu Shukla the first Indian astronaut to go to the ISS on a non-public mission.
Meet #Ax4‘s Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla. Shubhanshu is a distinguished pilot within the Indian Air Force and was handpicked as one of many 4 astronauts for @ISRO‘s historic Gaganyaan mission, the nation’s inaugural human spaceflight endeavor. Learn extra:https://t.co/Bb7lDVdq7x. pic.twitter.com/Xjx651864G
— Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) January 30, 2025
Shubhanshu Shukla is serving two organisations on the identical time, a serving IAF officer and a part of India’s Gaganyaan programme, he has seen sky and going past skies with NASA’s mission. Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will turn into Axiom Space’s director of Human Spaceflight. The two mission specialists are Sławosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, a undertaking astronaut from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, each representing the European Space Agency (ESA).
NASA’s ISS Programme supervisor Dana Weigel confirmed pleasure for personal astronaut missions and highlighted their position in advancing low Earth orbit exploration and increasing entry to the microgravity setting. She stated, “I am excited to see continued interest and dedication toward private astronaut missions aboard the International Space Station.”
(*4*) the NASA stated.
Axiom Space has efficiently accomplished three personal astronaut missions to the ISS: Ax-1 (April 2022, 17 days), Ax-2 (May 2023), and Ax-3 (January 2024, 18 days), in accordance to IANS.
NASA is working carefully with SpaceX to make sure the protected return of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for 238 days.
This comes after Elon Musk claimed that former US President Donald Trump requested him to expedite their return, criticizing the Biden administration for leaving them stranded. However, NASA clarified that the astronauts should not in peril and are anticipated to return in March 2025 as a part of the Crew 9 mission.
