First Visuals Of Indian Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla Inside Dragon Spacecraft Moments Ahead Of Axiom-4 Launch

Florida: After multiple delays, Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and three others are all set to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday with SpaceX announcing that the weather was 90 per cent favourable for lift-off. It will be a great milestone for India's space journey. The first visual of Group Captain Shukla along with three other astronauts seated inside the Dragon spacecraft surfaced online.

All the astronauts are fully geared up for the mission. NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are now targeting 12.01 PM (IST), Wednesday, June 25, for the launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS.

Axiom-4 Launch:

As per the latest update, the launch is likely to be delayed due to wind speed data issue.

The mission will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the company's Falcon 9 rocket. The targeted docking time is approximately 4.30 pm IST on Thursday, June 26, NASA said in a statement.

The mission will be commanded by Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space. Grp Cpt Shukla will serve as the pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and HUNOR (Hungarian to Orbit) astronaut Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

The mission had already faced several delays due to several reasons, including inclement weather, leaks on SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket and later on the Russian module of the International Space Station.