Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced on Wednesday that the much-anticipated Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), featuring Indian Air Force Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla as pilot, is scheduled to launch today at around 12:01 PM IST. In a post on X, Singh stated, “Update on #AXIOM4 Mission to International Space Station (ISS): Indian astronaut Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla formally joins the other three crew members for the much-awaited launch, currently scheduled around 12:01 PM IST today.”

The mission is set to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:31 AM EDT (12 noon IST) using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The crew will travel aboard a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, with docking expected around 7 AM EDT (4 PM IST) on Thursday. The four-member crew, currently quarantined in Florida, will be led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, now Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight. The other mission specialists include ESA astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.

The Ax-4 mission marks the return of India, Poland, and Hungary to human spaceflight after more than four decades. Though it's the second spaceflight mission for each nation, it will be their first joint mission aboard the ISS. For Group Captain Shukla, this mission presents a historic opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who became the first Indian in space in 1984 aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11.