Technology • Jun 25, 2025

Axiom-4 mission: India's Shubhanshu Shukla heads to ISS

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla just became the first Indian in 40 years to head to space, blasting off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center with SpaceX's Falcon 9 on the Axiom-4 mission.
He and his international crew are set for a quick 28-hour trip before docking at the International Space Station.

TL;DR

Global crew, microgravity experiments, and more

Axiom-4 brings together astronauts from India, the US, Poland, and Hungary for a truly global science project.
During his two-week stay on the ISS, Shukla will run seven microgravity experiments picked by ISRO—plus, research from 31 countries is in the mix.
The mission faced some delays but marks a huge step for private space travel and puts India back in orbit after four decades.