India’s Shubhanshu Shukla to soar into space on June 19 aboard Axiom-4 mission

In a historic leap for India’s space journey, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has confirmed that the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission featuring Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is now scheduled to launch on June 19 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Shukla, a pilot-turned-astronaut, is set to become only the second Indian to venture into space, following in the footsteps of Rakesh Sharma who flew aboard a Soviet mission in 1984. This landmark voyage will take Shukla to the International Space Station (ISS), where the crew will carry out a series of research experiments on microgravity and space life sciences.

The Ax-4 mission, operated by Axiom Space and powered by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, had faced four postponements due to technical anomalies and weather-related setbacks.

The mission was initially scheduled for May 29, but a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon 9 booster led to a series of delays — shifting the launch first to June 8, then to June 10 and 11.

“During a follow-on coordination meeting between ISRO, Axiom Space, and SpaceX, it was confirmed that the liquid oxygen leak observed in the Falcon 9 launch vehicle has been successfully resolved,” ISRO said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Axiom Space, in consultation with NASA, is also monitoring a separate issue involving a pressure anomaly in the Russian Zvezda service module aboard the ISS. However, the anomaly is not expected to impact the upcoming launch.

The Ax-4 crew will be commanded by Peggy Whitson, a veteran astronaut, and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space. Shukla will serve as the mission pilot, marking a major milestone in India’s growing participation in commercial human spaceflight.