Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, pilot of Axiom Mission 4, revealed his favorite song ahead of the mission’s launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Sharing his launch day playlist, the Indian astronaut expressed his fondness for "Yun Hi Chala Chal", a song from the 2004 film Swades starring Shah Rukh Khan.

Composed by Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar, and sung by Udit Narayan, Kailash Kher, and Hariharan, the track is motivational in nature. It plays during a montage where SRK and actor Makrand Deshpande journey through rural India, symbolizing persistence and self-discovery. Swades follows the story of a NASA scientist who returns to India in search of his childhood nanny, intending to take her back to the U.S. However, his visit to the village of Charanpur turns into a journey of introspection, helping him reconnect with his roots.

On social media platform X, Axiom Space posted the crew’s Launch Day Playlist, with Commander Peggy Whitson choosing "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons as her preferred track. Axiom Mission 4 launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at 2:31 am ET (12 noon IST). This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), with docking scheduled for 7 am ET (4 pm IST) on Thursday, June 26.

Once docked, the crew will spend up to 14 days on the ISS, engaging in a wide range of scientific, educational, and commercial activities. The mission is led by Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and Axiom’s Director of Human Spaceflight, with Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla serving as the pilot. The mission specialists include Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (ESA project astronaut from Poland) and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.

The astronauts are equipped with the new Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), an advanced spacesuit designed for lunar missions and adaptable for various crew members. The suit also contributes to NASA’s Artemis program goals. Ax-4 will be conducting over 60 scientific experiments from 31 countries, including India, the U.S., Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, UAE, and several European nations. This marks the most research-focused mission yet by Axiom aboard the ISS. The mission is also part of broader NASA–ISRO collaboration on space-based scientific investigations.