NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX Ready to Launch Ax-4 Mission on June 25

  The latest launch date for the Axiom 4 (Ax-4) mission has been set by NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX. The three parties have agreed to fly the four crew members into space on Wednesday, June 25.

Using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, the Ax-4 mission will launch around 1:31 p.m. from the Kennedy Space Center, a NASA facility in Florida. The Falcon 9 will propel the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Dragon spacecraft is expected to take more than a day to reach the space station. If there are no issues, the spacecraft is set to dock with the four crew members around 6:00 PM on Thursday, June 26.

The four crew members participating in this mission are from four different countries. Among them is former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who will serve as mission commander, and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, who will act as pilot.

Meanwhile, the other two astronauts are from the European Space Agency (ESA), namely Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu. Each astronaut is from Poland and Hungary, respectively. Both are serving as mission specialists.

With the latest launch schedule for the Ax-4 mission set, NASA has completed its review of the rear section of the Zvezda service module on the ISS. They have confirmed that the station is ready to accommodate additional astronauts.

They have also monitored the pressure in the transfer tunnel. Previously, the pressure in that area had dropped. After repairs, the astronauts were able to enter the space station without any issues.