SpaceX rolls out Falcon 9 and Dragon for Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's historic trip to space; Check visuals

The countdown for India's historic return to space started with SpaceX on Saturday rolling out the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecrafts to the launch pad ahead of Axiom Space's fourth human spaceflight, featuring Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla.

"Falcon 9 and Dragon rolled out to pad 39A in Florida earlier today ahead of Tuesday’s launch of
@Axiom_Space’s Ax-4 mission to the @Space_Station," said SpaceX in a post on X.



Read more: Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s space mission's schedule out: Check launch date, arrival time, and how to watch live

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others are set to embark on the Axiom Space's fourth human spaceflight from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 10 and are likely to dock at the International Space Station on June 11 at about 10 PM IST, after a nearly 28-hour journey.

Shukla, the mission pilot of the Axiom-4 (Ax4) commercial mission to the ISS, will be accompanied by mission commander Peggy Whitson and specialists Tibor Kapu from Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland.

The Axiom-4 mission will mark India's return to space 41 years after Rakesh Sharma's historic spaceflight onboard Russia's Soyuz mission in 1984.

"The crew will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the company's Falcon 9 rocket. The targeted docking time is approximately 12:30 p.m.EDT (10:00 p.m. IST), Wednesday, June 11," NASA said in a statement.

What role will Shukla play?
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

As part of a collaboration between NASA and ISRO, Axiom Mission 4 delivers on a commitment highlighted by President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send the first ISRO astronaut to the station. The space agencies are participating in five joint science investigations and two in-orbit science, technology, engineering, and mathematics demonstrations. NASA and ISRO have a long-standing relationship built on a shared vision to advance scientific knowledge and expand space collaboration.

The private mission also carries the first astronauts from Poland and Hungary to stay aboard the space station.