In a landmark achievement for Indian space exploration, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and his three crewmates aboard the Axiom 4 Mission’s Dragon capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) at 4:30 PM IST on Thursday, marking a historic moment for India’s presence in space.
The four-member Axiom 4 crew, led by 65-year-old Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and current director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, launched aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, propelled by a Falcon 9 rocket, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Wednesday. The team, which includes Shukla (39) from India, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (41) from Poland, and Tibor Kapu (33) from Hungary, will spend 14 days aboard the ISS conducting microgravity experiments.
Shukla’s journey makes him only the second Indian to venture into space, following Rakesh Sharma, who orbited aboard the Soviet Union’s Salyut-7 station in 1984. He is also the first Indian to reach the ISS in four decades. Before the launch, Shukla expressed his aspiration to inspire future generations, much like Sharma’s mission did decades ago. In a message from space, he described adapting to microgravity as “like learning to live anew, like an infant,” and called the sensation of floating in a vacuum “truly remarkable.” Reflecting on the 30-day pre-launch quarantine, he added, “All I could think was—get us up there.”
The Dragon capsule, launched atop the Falcon 9, illuminated the Florida night sky with a fiery yellow trail as it ascended over the Atlantic coast. Live visuals captured the astronauts, clad in white-and-black suits, seated calmly in the pressurised cabin as the spacecraft began its ascent to low Earth orbit. After a 28-hour journey, the autonomously piloted Crew Dragon docked with the ISS, orbiting approximately 400 km above Earth.
Upon arrival, the Axiom 4 crew was greeted by the ISS’s seven current occupants, including three NASA astronauts, one Japanese astronaut, and three Russian cosmonauts. The team’s mission focuses on advancing scientific research in microgravity, contributing to global space exploration efforts.
This mission marks the fourth by Houston-based Axiom Space since 2022, as the company strengthens its role in private and international space missions. For India, Poland, and Hungary, it signifies a historic return to human spaceflight after over 40 years and their first crewed mission to the ISS.
Mission commander Peggy Whitson, who holds the US record for the most cumulative time in space—675 days across four missions—brings unparalleled expertise. A trailblazer, she was NASA’s first female chief astronaut and the first woman to command the ISS. She also led Axiom’s second mission in 2023.
The launch represents SpaceX’s 18th human spaceflight, a testament to its partnership with NASA, which has enabled the US to resume crewed missions from its soil since 2020, following the Space Shuttle program’s retirement in 2011.