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Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) is a historic private spaceflight to the International Space Station, featuring India’s return to human spaceflight after 41 years.
About Axiom Mission 4
Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), organized by Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA, SpaceX, and ISRO.

The Ax-4 crew includes members from India, Poland, and Hungary, marking each nation’s first mission to the space station in history and second government-sponsored human spaceflight mission in over 40 years.  

• Shubhanshu Shuklabecame India’s second national astronaut to go to space since 1984.
• Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut, is the second Polish astronaut since 1978.
• Tibor Kapu is the second national Hungarian astronaut since 1980.
• Peggy Whitson is commanding her second commercial human spaceflight mission, adding to her standing record for the longest cumulative time in space by an American astronaut.
• Ax-4 is the second commercial spaceflight mission made up of government and ESA-sponsored national astronauts.
• The Ax-4 mission stands as a beacon of opportunity for India, Poland, and Hungary, each poised to leverage this mission to advance their national space programs.

Objectives:

• Enable commercial activities in low Earth orbit, including space tourism and private research.
• Demonstrate the feasibility of commercial space stations as platforms for business and science.
• Strengthen international collaboration in space exploration.
• Conduct scientific experiments in microgravity, focusing on materials science, biology, Earth observation, and life sciences.

Mission Timeline:

• Launch: Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) launched from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA on June 25.
• Return: The Axiom Mission 4 crew safely splashed down off the coast of California aboard SpaceX Dragon “Grace” on July 15.