Indian Astronauts, Set For Space Mission, Touch Down In US For Training

The Indian Gaganyatri's or astronaut designates set to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) have reached the United States and joined their training at Houston based American commercial company Axiom Space.

ISRO has assigned Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair - part of India's Gaganyaan Mission - for training at Axiom Space and NASA's Kennedy Space Center and SpaceX. While Group Captain Shukla is the primary astronaut for the Axiom mission, Group Captain Nair is the back-up astronaut for the project. The upcoming flight is designated as the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission.

Axiom Space said the two Indian Air Force test pilots have joined the astronaut training regimen that may last several months before the flight to ISS in 2025. It also confirmed that the "crew is expected to spend up to 14 days on the space station".

In a statement Axiom Space said "Axiom-4 will launch to the orbiting laboratory aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from Florida." No launch date has been disclosed just yet.

The Ax-4 crewmembers begin training with Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX. The crew assigned to Ax-4 includes American astronaut Commander Peggy Whitson, Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Mission Specialist Slawosz Uznanski of European Space Agency (ESA)/Poland, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

This will be the fourth commercial crew program spearheaded by Axiom Space and "Ax-4 represents Axiom Space's continued efforts to build opportunity for countries to research, innovate, test, and engage with people around the world while in low-Earth orbit," said Michael Suffredini, CEO of Axiom Space. 

"This mission broadens horizons for nations with ambitious goals of advancing scientific, technological, and economic pursuits. Our collaboration with ESA for a second time and the inclusion of Hungary and India underscores Axiom Space's ability to cultivate global partners, expand the scope of exploration, and open up new avenues to grow a global space economy."

A trained biochemist and America's most experienced astronaut, 64-year-old Dr Peggy Annette Whitson, is the designated Commander of the Axiom-4 mission on which Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, 39, is likely to fly to the International Space Station in early 2025.

Dr Whitson is a veteran of four flights to space and while she retired as a NASA astronaut in 2018, she now works for Axiom Space, the Houston-based private space company, where she is the director of the human space flight programme.

Axiom Space describes Dr Whitson as "America's most experienced astronaut, who flew on three NASA long-duration space flights and Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), accumulating 675 days in space, more than any other American astronaut or woman astronaut in the world."

"I look forward to commanding my second commercial human spaceflight mission with Axiom Space," said Peggy Whitson, Ax-4 commander. "With a culturally diverse crew, we are not only advancing scientific knowledge but also fostering international collaboration".

Axiom Space is confident of pulling of the mission for which India has paid to acquire this astronaut seat. It says Axiom Mission 1 was the first all-private mission to the space station, Axiom Mission 2 launched the first Saudi female to space, and Axiom Mission 3 included both the first Turkish astronaut and first ESA astronaut to fly on a commercial space mission.

Whitson says "now, with Ax-4, we ascend even higher, bringing even more nations to low-Earth orbit and expanding humanity's reach among the stars."