Shubhanshu Shukla to soar into space on June 19 as ISRO confirms Ax-04 mission launch

In a major development for India’s space ambitions, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has confirmed June 19, 2025, as the revised launch date for the Axiom-4 (Ax-04) mission, which will carry Indian astronaut and Air Force pilot Shubhanshu Shukla into space. The mission, previously delayed due to technical issues, will now take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

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This mission marks a significant step forward in India’s human spaceflight journey, as Shukla becomes one of the few Indians to visit the International Space Station (ISS). The delay had been caused by a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon 9 launcher, which has since been fully resolved by SpaceX engineers following a high-level meeting between ISRO, SpaceX, and Axiom Space.

Shukla will be part of an international crew onboard the Ax-04 mission, designed and operated by Axiom Space in partnership with NASA. While the launch itself is unrelated to ongoing pressure anomalies in the ISS’s Russian Zvezda module, officials emphasized the importance of inter-agency coordination for mission safety.

As part of his mission, Shukla will carry out seven scientific experiments developed by Indian researchers and will also collaborate with NASA on joint research projects while onboard the ISS.