Media Briefing Scheduled for Ax-4 Mission Launch Updates
NASA will participate in a media teleconference hosted by Axiom Space on Tuesday, 20 May, at 10:30 a.m. EDT. The discussion will focus on the upcoming Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), the fourth private astronaut flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
The briefing will feature several key speakers, including Dana Weigel, the manager of NASA’s ISS Programme, and Allen Flynt, Axiom Space’s chief of mission services. Other participants are Sarah Walker from SpaceX, Sergio Palumberi of the European Space Agency, Aleksandra Bukała from the Polish Space Agency, and Orsolya Ferencz representing HUNOR, Hungary’s space programme.
To join the teleconference, media representatives must register with Axiom Space by 12 p.m. on Monday, 19 May, via this link.
Launch Details and Crew Line-up
The Ax-4 mission is set to launch no earlier than 9:11 a.m. on Sunday, 8 June. It will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. The mission will carry a diverse international crew of four to the space station.
Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and now Axiom’s human spaceflight director, will command the mission. Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla from ISRO will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists include Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu.
The crew is scheduled to conduct approximately 60 research experiments in microgravity, developed in collaboration with global partners.
Building a Low Earth Orbit Economy
Ax-4 is part of a broader effort to grow a commercial economy in low Earth orbit. NASA’s strategy aims to transition from owning and operating space infrastructure to purchasing services from private companies. This approach allows NASA to redirect focus and funding towards its Artemis missions to the Moon and future goals for Mars exploration.
The ISS continues to serve as a vital training and testing environment for these future deep space missions. Previous Axiom missions have shown the growing capabilities of private spaceflight. Axiom Mission 1 launched in April 2022, followed by Mission 2 in May 2023, and Mission 3 in January 2024.
These missions demonstrate how commercial partnerships are shaping the future of human spaceflight.
with inputs from Reuters
