After multiple delays due to a variety of reasons, the much anticipated Axiom 4 mission to the International Space Station carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla was scheduled to be launched on Wednesday, June 25, at 2.31 am EDT, which was around 12.00 p.m. IST.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the successful launch of the Axiom 4 mission to the International Space Station and said Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla carried with him the wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians.

In a post on X, PM Modi said we welcome the successful launch of the space mission carrying astronauts from India, Hungary, Poland and the US.

Highlighting the significance of the moment, PM Modi mentioned that Group Captain Shukla was set to become the first Indian to travel to the International Space Station. He said he carries with him the wishes, hopes, and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians and wished him and the other astronauts all the success.

The mission, if it went ahead this time, would lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The four astronauts set to go on the mission to the International Space Station would be carried aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX in a post on X said that all systems were looking good for the launch, and the weather was also 90 per cent favourable for liftoff.

The Axiom 4 mission was a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station and would realise the return to human spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary, with each nation’s first government-sponsored flight in more than 40 years.

According to Axiom, the mission would be the second human spaceflight mission in history for these countries, but it would be the first time all three nations would execute a mission on board the International Space Station.

The mission aimed to carry around 60 scientific studies and activities representing 31 countries, including India, the United States, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates and nations across Europe.

Four astronauts were set to go to the International Space Station under Axiom Mission 4. Indian Space Research Organisation’s astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla would serve as pilot.

Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson would command the mission.

European Space Agency project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski Wisniewski of Poland and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu would both serve as mission specialists.