In a week packed with rocket firepower and orbital ambitions, Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) has stolen the spotlight with its launch from Kennedy Space Center on June 11. What makes this mission historic is not just its science, but its symbolism: crew members from India, Poland, and Hungary are all making their countries’ first voyage to the International Space Station (ISS).
The mission is commanded by NASA veteran Peggy Whitson, already a record holder for the most cumulative time spent in space by any American. With Shubhanshu Shukla aboard as pilot, India returns to human spaceflight for the first time since 1984. Sławosz Uznański of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary also make national history, following in the footsteps of their nations’ long-retired astronauts.
“As I go into space, I carry not just instruments and equipment, I carry hopes and dreams of a billion hearts,” said Shukla in an emotional interview with the BBC.
What sets Ax-4 apart isn’t just who is flying—but what they’re doing. The crew will conduct around 60 scientific experiments, the most ever on an Axiom mission, representing 31 countries across fields like human physiology, Earth science, and materials research. Collaborators include NASA, ISRO, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, the UAE, and many EU nations.
Notably, NASA and ISRO have joined forces on several onboard studies, including tests on muscle regeneration, edible microalgae growth, and even the resilience of aquatic organisms in microgravity.
According to Axiom Space, Ax-4 is “a beacon of opportunity” for emerging space nations. It signals a shift in space access—commercial spaceflight is no longer limited to superpowers.
Other Missions Lighting Up the Week
- Starlink Group 12-24: Launched June 10 from Cape Canaveral, another Falcon 9 mission delivering v2-mini and Direct-to-Cell satellites for SpaceX’s internet network.
- Rocket Lab’s “The Mountain God Guards”: Flew June 11 from New Zealand, deploying a synthetic aperture radar satellite for iQPS, which aims to scan Earth every 10 minutes, day or night.
- Starlink Group 15-6: Took off June 12 from Vandenberg SFB, continuing SpaceX’s rapid Starlink expansion with more v2-mini satellites.
- Amazon’s Project Kuiper KA-02: Launched June 13 using Atlas V 551, deploying Amazon’s second test satellite toward its planned 3,236-unit broadband constellation.
- CASC Long March 2D: China launched an unspecified payload from Jiuquan, continuing its assertive presence in low Earth orbit development.
- Starlink Group 12-26: The final Starlink launch this week, blasting off June 13 with more v2-mini satellites from Cape Canaveral.
Looking Ahead: June 16–22
Space lovers, stay tuned—next week’s schedule is just as intense. On June 16, an Atlas V 551 will carry a classified U.S. security payload. That same day, Starlink Group 15-9 heads into orbit from Vandenberg.
On June 18, Russia is set to launch an Angara A5 from Plesetsk, while Transporter-14, SpaceX’s latest rideshare mission, lifts off June 21, sending a batch of small satellites into Sun-synchronous orbit.
As commercial spaceflight expands and more countries join the frontier, one thing is clear: 2025 is the year of global space democratization.
