Axiom Mission 4

Axiom Mission 4 (or Ax-4) is a private spaceflight to the International Space Station. The flight will launch no earlier than April 2025 and last about 14 days. It will be operated by Axiom Space and use a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.^[2][3][4]

Axiom Mission 4

Artists' impression of a Crew Dragon approaching the forward port of Harmony on the ISS.
Names	Ax-4
Mission type	Private spaceflight to the ISS
Operator	Axiom Space SpaceX
Mission duration	14–21 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Crew Dragon
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Crew
Crew size	4
Members	Peggy Whitson Shubhanshu Shukla Sławosz Uznański Tibor Kapu
Start of mission
Launch date	April 2025[1] (planned)
Rocket	Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch site	Kennedy, LC‑39A or Cape Canaveral, SLC‑40
Contractor	SpaceX
End of mission
Recovered by	MV Megan or MV Shannon
Landing site	Pacific Ocean (planned)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Docking with ISS
Docking port	Harmony forward or zenith
Axiom Space missions ← Axiom Mission 3 Axiom Mission 5 → Crew Dragon flights ← Fram2 SpaceX Crew-11 →

The mission will launch from either the Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39A or Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s SLC-40 launch facilities in Florida. It will use a Falcon 9 rocket to place the Crew Dragon spacecraft into low-Earth orbit (LEO).

The flight is organized in collaboration with NASA and will be the fourth flight of Axiom Space after Axiom Mission 1, Axiom Mission 2, and Axiom Mission 3.^[5]

The ESA part of the mission is named Ignis^[6].

Crew

The flight crew will include veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson, ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański, and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu.^[7]

Prime crew

Position[8]	Astronaut
Commander	Peggy Whitson, Axiom Space Fifth spaceflight
Pilot	Shubhanshu Shukla, ISRO First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1	Sławosz Uznański, ESA/POLSA First spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2	Tibor Kapu, Hungary First spaceflight

Backup crew

Position	Astronaut
Commander	/  Michael López-Alegría, Axiom Space
Pilot	Prasanth Nair, ISRO
Mission Specialist 2	Gyula Cserényi, Hungary

References

1. "Falcon 9 Block 5 | Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4)". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
2. @NASASpaceOps (9 August 2024). "Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), the fourth private astronaut mission to the @Space_Station, now is targeted to launch no earlier than Spring 2025 from @NASAKennedy in Florida" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 August 2024 – via Twitter.
3. "NASA Selects Axiom Space for Fourth Private Astronaut Mission to International Space Station". Axiom Space. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
4. Josh Dinner (4 August 2023). "NASA and Axiom Space sign-on for 4th private astronaut mission to space station". Space.com. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
5. "NASA Selects Axiom Space for Another Private Space Mission in 2024 - NASA". Retrieved 30 May 2024.
6. "N° 68–2024: ESA and Poland reveal 'Ignis' as name of Polish mission to International Space Station". European Space Agency. 2 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
7. Foust, Jeff (5 August 2024). "Hungary and Poland to join India on Ax-4". SpaceNews. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
8. "Axiom Mission 4 to ISS will include India, Poland, Hungary". Axiom Space (Press release). 5 August 2024. Archived from the original on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.