Axiom-4 Mission Carrying Shubhanshu Shukla Docks Successfully At International Space Station

New Delhi: The Axiom-4 mission, carrying Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS).

Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sławosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary lifted off at 2:31 a.m. on June 25, aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

All the crew members onboard the Axiom-4 mission will spend two weeks aboard the orbiting laboratory on the International Space Station and perform various critical tasks.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station at 4:01 PM IST or 6:31 AM ET. In the next step, the mission crew and NASA astronauts will prepare to open the hatches.

After opening the hatches, the Axiom-4 mission astronauts will be greeted by the crew aboard the International Space Station.

As the crew members prepare to open the hatches of the Dragon spacecraft which will allow them to enter the International Space Station, the scientist and astronauts onboard the spacecraft are performing final critical checks before the hatches are opened. Watch the historic events unfolding live here. 

According to a post on X by International Space Station, the Axiom-4 is the fourth private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory.

Earlier, the Axiom-4 mission witnessed its first in-flight event as Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and the crew members shared their messages from space. Group Captain Shukla is only the second Indian in space and will execute ISRO's targets aboard the International Space Station. Watch their first messages aboard the Dragon spacecraft.

Earlier today, the International Space Station shared a breathtaking view of Dragon spacecraft carrying Axiom-4 mission crew as it was approaching for its docking at the orbiting laboratory.  

As the Axiom-4 mission piloted by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla was docking at the ISS, his parents including mother Asha Shukla and father got emotional while witnessing the live telecast at a Lucknow school.

Shubhanshu Shukla's school along with the entire nation erupted in applause when the Axiom-4 docked at the International Space Station.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitendra Singh expressed his wishes on the successful docking of the Axiom-4 at the ISS saying, “Congratulations #Axiom4! Docking accomplished. Shubhanshu stands at the threshold entrance of International Space Station #ISS … waiting to step in for a 14-day sojourn…. as the world watches with excitement and expectation.”