From left to right: Axiom mission patch, Uznański-Wiśniewski's Ignis mission patch, Kapu's Hunor mission patch From left to right: Kapu, Whitson, Shukla, and Uznański-Wiśniewski
The launch was originally scheduled for June 11, 2025 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, but was scrubbed for a liquid oxygen leak. A separate leak in the ISS's Zvezda module led to an additional two week launch delay. The mission was eventually launched on June 25, 2025 at 06:31:53UTC (2:31:53a.m.EDT) for an 18-day stay at the ISS before undocking and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on July 15, 2025 at 09:31:41UTC (2:31:41amPDT).
The mission marked the first government-sponsored human spaceflight in over 40 years, and only the second overall, for India, Hungary, and Poland. Each of these countries previously flew one astronaut as part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos program. While those earlier missions docked with Salyut 6 or Salyut 7, Ax-4 was the first government-sponsored mission from any of the three nations to reach the ISS. Among the crew, Shubhanshu Shukla was the first member of India's astronaut corps to fly in space.
Ax‑4 represented a milestone for the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme, integrating with ISRO's Gaganyaan initiative. While Gaganyaan remained India's independent crewed program, Ax‑4 provided the first opportunity for an Indian astronaut—Shubhanshu Shukla—to fly on a commercial mission to the ISS. Shukla conducted experiments developed by ISRO and Indian institutions, including studies of cognitive effects of screen use, microbial adaptation, muscle atrophy, and crop resilience in microgravity.
According to ISRO, the mission provided practical experience in the intricacies of crew-ground coordination, real-time health telemetry, medical and psychological preparation, international crew integration, and experiment execution. For the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme, it will have a direct impact on astronaut preparedness, safety validation, and mission planning.
Voyager Displays (Indian Institute of Science) — Analyzing Human Interaction with Electronic Displays in Microgravity. The study will compare performance of on board and ground crews with respect to ISO 9241 pointing task, Spatial 2-back task, Perceived Stress and WHO Mental Well Being tests.
Ax‑4 also carried Tibor Kapu, Hungary's second astronaut after Bertalan Farkas. Tibor Kapu was the first Hungarian astronaut since the fall of the Soviet Union and the first to board the International Space Station. Although Hungary is also part of the ESA, the HUNOR (short for HUNgarian to ORbit) mission was developed by the Hungarian Space Office (HSO) completely independent of ESA. HUNOR was first announced in 2021 and in July 2022 the Hungarian foreign ministry signed a preliminary deal with Axiom for the flight, which was finalized in September 2023. Tibor Kapu was selected from 247 applicants to fly on the mission, supported by backup astronaut Gyula Cserényi. Kapu is a mechanical engineer and recreational skydiver, Cserényi is an electrical engineer and amateur steeplechase racer. Both completed their NASA training in April 2025. The HUNOR mission had its own patch, separate from the Axiom Mission 4 patch, depicting the Csodaszarvas and four stars representing the final astronaut candidates.
Experiments
ATMP (Semmelweis University, 27G-Technology Ltd.) — development of heart muscle cells in space environment
CINCINNATI (eCon Kft.) — simulation of thermal comfort for astronauts
DIROS (Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Institute of Physics and Astronomy, SGF Kft.) — contributes to better understanding of the Saturn's hexagon cloud pattern and flows in gases or liquids
DNA-REPAIR (University of Szeged) — reducing damage to DNA-molecules to protect astronauts from cosmic rays using genetically modified fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), that are to be tested and compared with specimens on Earth
END-SANS (Spinsplit Kft.) — experiment to treat astronauts' visual impairment that is caused by long periods in space
ENPERCHAR (Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Institute of People–Environment Transaction) — the research explores the interaction (transaction) between humans and their physical environment on the International Space Station
ESEL3D (University of Pécs) — impact of space conditions on 3D printed devices
IMU-DRS (HUN-REN Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics) — positioning in space using accelerometers
KRIJAP (HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences) — crystal growth from new organic material in zero gravity, with resulting crystals to be brought to Earth where their atomic structure is to be determined
M4D (Aedus Space Kft.) — medicine tester that uses capillary action to make sure ingredients mix precisely at the right time and place
MAGOR (University of Szeged) — examining damage to the astronauts' microbiome and negative impact on their health caused by weightlessness, cosmic radiation and special diets
MAGYAR (University of Pécs) — testing brain function in weightlessness using VR
MICATO (Triage Capital Zrt.) — testing ion engines in microgravity
ORBGEO (Space Apps Kft.) — tracking the orbit of spacecraft using photographs
POSITIVE (ADMATIS Kutató, Gyártó és Kereskedelmi Kft.) — foaming of building material from lunar regolith
RANDAM (27G-Technology Kft.) — usage of a new, tiny, energy-efficient radiation dosimeter that also records scientific data on other environmental factors
SAET (University of Szeged) — the impact of space travel on associative learning (Space Acquired Equivalence Test)
SINGREAD (Észak-Pesti Centrumkórház–Honvédkórház) — studying the human voice in space
SIS (University of Pécs) — 3D footage of the astronaut's daily activities (Step in Space)
UHU (HUN-REN Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science) — photographing upper-atmospheric lightning, namely sprites, blue and gigantic jets from the ISS
VITAPRIC (University of Debrecen, University of Pécs) — examining space conditions on vitamin, mineral and protein content of plant samples
Ignis
For Poland, Ax‑4 was the first crewed mission since 1978. The Polish Space Agency (POLSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have partnered on the Ignis mission for astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski. He was the second ESA astronaut to fly on a commercial human spaceflight mission. His payload suite included experiments in technology and life sciences.
Mission patch
The Ignis mission had its own patch, separate from the Axiom Mission 4 patch, depicting an eagle in the Polish colors whose wings trace the contours of the Orla Perć mountain range and a stylized depiction of the Scutum constellation (a tribute to Johannes Hevelius who named the constellation) over the mission's name, Ignis, the Latin word for fire.
Axiom Mission 4 crew in black jumpsuits, from left: Kapu, Whitson, Shukla, and Uznański-Wiśniewski with Expedition 73 crew in white shirtsAxiom Mission 4 crew (in dark suits) gather with drink pouches shortly after docking
Attempt
Planned
Result
Turnaround
Reason
Decision point
Weather go (%)
Notes
1
11 Jun 2025, 8:00:00 am
Scrubbed
—
Technical
10 Jun 2025, 8:45 pm
Liquid oxygen leak found on rocket following static fire. Launch scheduled for 8:00 UTC and scrubbed at 20:45 UTC.
2
22 Jun 2025, 3:42:00 am
Scrubbed
10days 19hours 42minutes
Technical
19 Jun 2025, 6:48 pm
Air leak in Zvezda ISS module. Scrubbed at 18:48 UTC.
3
25 Jun 2025, 2:31:53 am
Success
2days 22hours 50minutes
Launched at 06:31 UTC.
On June 10, 2025, the launch of Ax-4 was postponed after SpaceX detected a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon 9 rocket during a post-static fire inspection. The mission was put on hold to allow time for necessary repairs. SpaceX officially announced it was "standing down" from the launch to ensure the safety and integrity of the mission hardware.
On June 12, 2025, the mission was delayed to allow the crew of the space station to investigate a new potential pressure leak. The potential leak was detected following leak repair and sealing efforts by Russian cosmonauts in the aft segment of the Zvezda module, where multiple previous leaks have occurred. On June 19, 2025, NASA made the decision to stand down from a launch on June 22, 2025.
Because of the multiple stand downs in close succession, Axiom-4 crew remained in quarantine for nearly four weeks, one of the longest periods in modern human spaceflight history. The standard quarantine for astronauts is typically just two weeks, although the Apollo Moon mission astronauts were isolated for three weeks.
The mission launched successfully on its third attempt on June 25, 2025 at 06:31:53UTC (2:31:53a.m.EDT). Grace docked with the ISS on June 26, 2025, at 10:31:47UTC for a two-week stay.
After 18 days at the ISS, Grace undocked on July 14, 2025, 11:15UTC, commencing a 22-hour return to Earth. The spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on July 15, 2025 at 09:31:41UTC (2:31:41amPDT).
↑In 2007 Hungarian-American buissnessman Charles Simonyi flew as a space tourist to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-10, although he is often omitted as an official "astronaut."
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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