By The Sampadak Express
Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s long-anticipated mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has once again been delayed this time due to adverse weather conditions. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed on Monday that the launch has been rescheduled for June 11, 2025.
Originally set to lift off on May 29, the mission had already been deferred twice first to June 8, then to June 10. Now, the revised launch window targets Wednesday, June 11 at 8 a.m. ET (5:30 p.m. IST) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.“
Due to weather conditions, the launch of the Axiom-4 mission for sending Indian Gaganyatri to the International Space Station is postponed from June 10 to June 11,” announced ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan on X (formerly Twitter).
SpaceX echoed the update, citing high winds in the rocket’s ascent corridor as the reason for the delay. The aerospace company has also secured a backup launch window for June 12 at 7:37 a.m. ET, should conditions fail to improve.
A Mission of National Pride
The mission, conducted by US-based Axiom Space, will mark a historic milestone: Shubhanshu Shukla will become the first Indian astronaut to board the ISS. He will also be the second Indian to travel to space, following Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma’s legendary 1984 mission to the Soviet space station Salyut 7.
Speaking to IANS from Lucknow, Shukla’s family expressed their joy and pride. “We are definitely feeling proud; our son has done something that brings pride in itself,” said his mother.
International Crew and Research Objectives
Shukla will serve as pilot on the Ax-4 mission, under the command of veteran US astronaut Peggy Whitson. The other crew members include Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, both serving as mission specialists.
Once aboard the ISS, Shukla will lead exclusive experiments focused on food and nutrition in space, developed in collaboration with ISRO and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), with support from NASA.
The core of the research will be studying microalgae a highly nutritious, sustainable food source to understand how microgravity and space radiation impact their growth and biological processes. The study will analyze the transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes of various algal species in space, offering key insights for future long-duration space missions and self-sustaining life-support systems.
Stay tuned for live coverage of the launch on June 11, and exclusive updates on India’s next big leap in space exploration.
