The Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew—Commander Peggy Whitson (U.S.), Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla (India), and Mission Specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary)—successfully completed a full dress rehearsal at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ahead of their June 10 launch to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Ax-4 crew and SpaceX teams completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities ahead of liftoff on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/MEhuTdeuDf
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 8, 2025
The crew practised ingress/egress procedures and communication checks while SpaceX performed a static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket’s nine Merlin engines, ensuring readiness, per NASA. Initially scheduled for June 8, the launch was delayed to June 10 at 8:22 AM EDT (5:52 PM IST) due to spacecraft preparations, according to Spaceflight Now. The rehearsal confirmed the crew’s ability to handle emergencies, like depressurisation, following months of training in Houston, including underwater escape drills, per Axiom Space posts.
Ax-4 marks the first ISS mission for India, Poland, and Hungary in over 40 years, with the crew set to conduct 60 experiments during their 14-day stay, per AxiomSpace.com.
