The launch of Axiom-4 mission, that would carry India's second astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to space has been postponed by a day due to bad weather.
A post from Indian space research agency ISRO on X, formerly Twitter, read, "Due to weather conditions, the launch of Axiom-4 mission for sending Indian Gaganyatri to International Space Station is postponed from 10th June 2025 to 11th June 2025. The targeted time of launch is 5:30 PM IST on 11th June 2025".
Launch of Axiom-4 mission to International Space Station:
— ISRO (@isro) June 9, 2025
Due to weather conditions, the launch of Axiom-4 mission for sending Indian Gaganyatri to International Space Station is postponed from 10th June 2025 to 11th June 2025.
The targeted time of launch is 5:30 PM IST on 11th...
The mission - a collaboration with Houston-based Axiom Space in partnership with US space agency NASA -- also referred to as Mission Akash Ganga, will orbit the International Space Laboratory. It will spend 14 days in the space.
This is the fourth time the mission has been deferred. The last time it was deferred was from June 8 to June 10 - again because of adverse weather conditions.
The historic second flight for an Indian astronaut will take place from the Launch Complex 39 A at the Kennedy Space Center, from which Astronaut Neil Armstrong lifted off on the Apollo 11 mission on July 16, 1969, and became the first human to step on the moon.
Group Captain Shukla -- a 39-year-old fighter pilot from the Indian Air Force picked by ISRO as the prime astronaut -- is currently in pre-launch quarantine, a standard protocol to protect astronauts from potential infections before lift-off.
From his quarantine at the Kennedy Space Centre, he has told NDTV that he is "extremely confident" about the success of the mission.
