Center for Kennedy Space On a private astronaut mission for Axiom Space, SpaceX’s fifth and last Crew Dragon spacecraft eventually took off.
Launch of the Axiom Ax-4 mission from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson is the commander; Indian Space Research Organisation astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is the pilot; and European Space Agency project astronauts S awosz Uzna ski-Wi niewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are the mission specialists. This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Long exposure of the launch of the Axiom Ax-4 mission from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson is the commander; Indian Space Research Organisation astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is the pilot; and European Space Agency project astronauts S awosz Uzna ski-Wi niewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are the mission specialists. This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Launch of the Axiom Ax-4 mission from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson is the commander; Indian Space Research Organisation astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is the pilot; and European Space Agency project astronauts S awosz Uzna ski-Wi niewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are the mission specialists. This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Launch of the Axiom Ax-4 mission from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson is the commander; Indian Space Research Organisation astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is the pilot; and European Space Agency project astronauts S awosz Uzna ski-Wi niewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are the mission specialists. This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Launch of the Axiom Ax-4 mission from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson is the commander; Indian Space Research Organisation astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is the pilot; and European Space Agency project astronauts S awosz Uzna ski-Wi niewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are the mission specialists. This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the Axiom Space Ax-4 mission launches from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel)
Launch of the Axiom Ax-4 mission from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson is the commander; Indian Space Research Organisation astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is the pilot; and European Space Agency project astronauts S awosz Uzna ski-Wi niewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are the mission specialists. This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
Launch of the Axiom Ax-4 mission from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson is the commander; Indian Space Research Organisation astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is the pilot; and European Space Agency project astronauts S awosz Uzna ski-Wi niewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are the mission specialists. This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
The Falcon 9 rocket venting before the launch of the Axiom Ax-4 mission from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson is the commander; Indian Space Research Organisation astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is the pilot; and European Space Agency project astronauts S awosz Uzna ski-Wi niewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are the mission specialists. This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
The Falcon 9 rocket venting before the launch of the Axiom Ax-4 mission from Launch Complex 39-A at NASA s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson is the commander; Indian Space Research Organisation astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is the pilot; and European Space Agency project astronauts S awosz Uzna ski-Wi niewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are the mission specialists. This is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)
At 2:31 a.m., a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the four crew members of the Ax-4 mission blasted off from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A on its way to the ISS.
The rocket’s dazzling burn streaked over the pinholes of constellations like Andromeda, Cepheus, and Cygnus the swan, illuminating the beautiful night sky. As it rose higher, the rocket plume produced quavering waves of orange and blue light that have been compared to a jellyfish.
Early in the morning, a sonic boom reverberated over sections of Central Florida as the first-stage booster made a recovery landing at the nearby Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, marking the start of its second flight.
Commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and current employee of Axiom Space, announced the spacecraft’s new name soon after it entered orbit. Whitson is on her fifth spaceflight.
We would like to set our course for the International Space Station aboard the newest members of the Dragon fleet, our spacecraft named Grace, after an amazing journey uphill, she remarked. A name is not all that Grace is. With Earth as a backdrop, it captures the grace with which we travel through space.
After its initial flight in 2020, Crew Dragon Endeavour was joined by Resilience, Endurance, and Freedom.
According to Whitson, it illustrates the development of our purpose, the balance between spirit and science, and the undeserved favor we bear with humility. Grace serves as a reminder that spaceflight is an act of kindness that benefits all people worldwide, not just an engineering marvel.
Ax-4!pic.twitter.com/RHiVFVdnz3 liftoff
SpaceX June 25, 2025 (@SpaceX)
Whitson had suggested that the moniker was a reference to the crew’s zero-gravity indicator, which is the tiny device that astronauts typically use to determine whether they have reached space. Joy, a plush swan, was used for this expedition.
She was in charge of a crew consisting of three clients from three nations that hadn’t launched a person into space in almost 40 years. Shubhanshu Shukla of India served as the pilot, while Tibor Kapu of Hungary and SAWOSZ Uznaski of Poland, a project astronaut for the European Space Agency, are mission specialists.
Now, each man is the first astronaut and the second to fly for their nation. In the 1970s and early 1980s, their forebears participated in a Soviet cosmonaut program.
Launching the mission was a laborious process.
In the past two weeks alone, attempts have been canceled due to weather, rocket leaks, and even space station leaks. SpaceX had to debug loading data into the new Crew Dragon in case of an emergency abort after launch, which created a scare less than an hour before liftoff. However, mission control informed the crew that they could proceed with the launch just one minute before SpaceX would have had to cancel it.
For a variety of reasons, including the loss of their first spacecraft, the flight-tested Crew Dragon Endurance, which ultimately met the requirements of the Crew-10 mission that flew up to the space station in March, the mission, which was initially scheduled for launch in 2024, kept getting pushed back.
The new Crew Dragon was eventually renamed the Ax-4 ride, with its crew having the distinction of naming it. This modification resulted from SpaceX’s delays in getting it ready.
Following the name revelation, Mission Control declared that good things come to those who wait. Godspeed to Grace’s inaugural crew.
SpaceX has launched its fleet of Crew Dragon spacecraft with 68 people into space 18 times since its first human spaceflight in 2020.
Whitson is commanding an Axiom mission for the second time in her career, having flown for NASA three times. She currently holds the record for the most duration spent in space by any American or woman, having already spent 675 days in orbit. Now that Crew Dragon is aiming to reach the space station on Thursday at around 7 a.m., she will add to it.
The Axiom Ax-4 crew stop to talk with family in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 before driving in some SpaceX Teslas out to Launch Pad 39-A for a launch attempt early Wednesday. From left to right are Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Tibor Kapu of Hungary, commander and Axiom Space employee Peggy Whitson, and S awosz Uzna ski of Poland.(Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel)
The Axiom Ax-4 crew stop to talk with family in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 before driving in some SpaceX Teslas out to Launch Pad 39-A for a launch attempt early Wednesday. From left to right are Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Tibor Kapu of Hungary, commander and Axiom Space employee Peggy Whitson, and S awosz Uzna ski of Poland.(Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel)
The Axiom Ax-4 crew stop to talk with family in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 before driving in some SpaceX Teslas out to Launch Pad 39-A for a launch attempt early Wednesday. From left to right are Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Tibor Kapu of Hungary, commander and Axiom Space employee Peggy Whitson, and S awosz Uzna ski of Poland.(Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel)
The Axiom Ax-4 crew stop to talk with family in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 before driving in some SpaceX Teslas out to Launch Pad 39-A for a launch attempt early Wednesday. From left to right are Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Tibor Kapu of Hungary, commander and Axiom Space employee Peggy Whitson, and S awosz Uzna ski of Poland.(Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel)
The Axiom Ax-4 crew stop to talk with family in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 before driving in some SpaceX Teslas out to Launch Pad 39-A for a launch attempt early Wednesday. From left to right are Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Tibor Kapu of Hungary, commander and Axiom Space employee Peggy Whitson, and S awosz Uzna ski of Poland.(Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel)
With the enormous Vehicle Assembly Building in the backdrop, the quartet stopped to see families Tuesday after 10 p.m. before getting into two black Teslas and heading to the launch pad.
An Indian flag was raised by Shukla’s family, which included his little son Sid.
As his father drove off, Sid declared, “I’m ready for him to launch.”
Just minutes before takeoff, Whitson honored their families and others.
“The quiet force behind this mission is all of you behind the scenes, engineers, trainers, families, and friends,” she stated. As we make this return, we are carrying the hopes of many with us, and we will bring those dreams home to you.
During their two weeks aboard the space station, the quartet will conduct over 60 experiments, some of which will be in collaboration with NASA. T
The prelaunch call from mission control said, “We look forward to your mission from all of us that are staying here on the ground.” This is where all of our teams’ hard work comes to fruition. Good luck, then. Take pleasure in the journey and make the most of all your experiments.
