Axiom Ax-4 Mission: What You Should Know
The Ax-4 mission will “realize the return” to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, with each nation’s first government-sponsored flight in more than 40 years. While Ax-4 marks these countries' second human spaceflight mission in history, it will be the first time all three nations will execute a mission on board the International Space Station.
This historic mission underscores how Axiom Space is redefining the pathway to low-Earth orbit and elevating national space programs globally. The assigned crewmembers are pending approval to fly to the International Space Station by NASA and its international partners, which includes representatives from station partner members Russian Space Agency, Japanese Space Agency, European Space Agency, and Canadian Space Agency. In consensus, they decide space station crew assignments, operations, and approve non-member national astronauts.
Axiom Space officially announced that it is partnering with India, through the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Poland, with European Space Agency (ESA) support, and Hungary to send three national astronauts to the space station on Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), the company’s next commercial human spaceflight mission to the orbiting laboratory.
The crew assigned to Ax-4 includes Commander Peggy Whitson, Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański of ESA/Poland, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary. The assigned crewmembers are pending approval to fly to the International Space Station by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP). MCOP decisions are made in consensus by representatives from all five-space station international partners: NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency.
Mission Overview
The assigned Ax-4 crew includes members from India, Poland, and Hungary, marking each nation’s first mission to the space station in history and second government-sponsored human spaceflight mission in over 40 years.
Shubhanshu Shukla will be India’s second national astronaut to go to space since 1984.
Sławosz Uznański, European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut, will be the second Polish astronaut since 1978.
Tibor Kapu will be the second national Hungarian astronaut since 1980.
Peggy Whitson will command her second commercial human spaceflight mission, adding to her standing record for the longest cumulative time in space by an American astronaut.
Ax-4 will be the second commercial spaceflight mission made up of government and ESA-sponsored national astronauts.
The Ax-4 mission stands as a beacon of opportunity for India, Poland, and Hungary, each poised to leverage this mission to advance their national space programs.
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