India’s Shubhanshu Shukla to lift off to International Space Station tomorrow
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New Delhi: Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is poised to make history as the first Indian to reach the International Space Station (ISS), with lift-off scheduled for Tuesday. The mission, led by US-based Axiom Space, will mark a significant milestone in India's space journey, aiming to inspire future generations to pursue careers in space exploration.
The Ax-4 Mission, after facing two delays, is now set to launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 10 at 8:22 a.m. ET (5:52 p.m. IST). Shukla will be part of a four-member international crew aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Once launched, he will become the second Indian to travel to space, following Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 mission to the Soviet space station Salyut 7.
During a recent press conference, Shukla expressed confidence in the mission’s success. Speaking to IANS earlier in March, the IAF Group Captain said he was inspired by Sharma’s achievement and hoped his journey would encourage young Indians to explore careers in the space sector.
Shukla will serve as the pilot of the mission, alongside Commander Peggy Whitson from the United States. The crew also includes mission specialists Sławosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
While aboard the ISS, Shukla is expected to carry out specialised food and nutrition experiments. Developed through a collaborative effort involving the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and supported by NASA, the experiments are focused on space nutrition and the development of self-sustaining life support systems — crucial for long-duration space missions.
The research will investigate how microgravity and space radiation affect the growth and nutritional profiles of edible microalgae. These nutrient-rich organisms are being studied as a sustainable food source for future space missions. Scientists will monitor variations in transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes of algal species grown in space versus those on Earth.
Ahead of the launch, Axiom Space confirmed that the Ax-4 crew and SpaceX teams have completed full launch day rehearsals. In a social media post, the company expressed its readiness for the mission with a brief message: “Go #Ax4!” A backup launch window has also been scheduled for June 11 at 8:00 a.m. ET (5:30 p.m. IST), should any issues arise.
This marks Axiom Space’s second commercial spaceflight to the ISS, featuring a crew entirely composed of government and European Space Agency-sponsored astronauts. The Ax-4 team will conduct approximately 60 scientific experiments, with contributions from 31 countries, including India, the US, Poland, Hungary, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Nigeria, and other European nations.
With IANS inputs
