Houston [US], July 14 (ANI): The Axiom-4 mission has successfully undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and begun its journey back to Earth, Axiom Space and NASA confirmed on Monday.
In a blog post detailing mission updates, NASA reported that the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft undocked at 7:15 AM EDT from the space-facing port of the ISS’s Harmony module, concluding the fourth private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory.
The Dragon is now slowly maneuvering into an orbital path that will safely return the crew and its cargo to Earth, targeting splashdown off the coast of California on Tuesday, July 15. According to SpaceX, the spacecraft will execute a series of departure burns before re-entering the atmosphere in approximately 22.5 hours.
Axiom Space noted in a livestream on X that the Ax-4 mission accomplished over 60 scientific studies and more than 20 outreach events during its nearly three-week stay aboard the ISS. SpaceX also confirmed the undocking in a post on X, declaring, “Dragon separation confirmed!”
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla — the first Indian astronaut to visit the ISS — is piloting the spacecraft. Shukla and the rest of the crew boarded the Dragon earlier Monday, following hatch closure and final checks.
Ahead of departure, ISS Commander Takuya Onishi led a heartfelt farewell ceremony, praising the crew’s contributions. “Peggy, Shux, Suave, Tibor — we really enjoyed your company and thank you so much for bringing joy, excitement, inspiration, and professionalism to our experience here. Your dedication to science and your profession sets a new standard for private astronaut missions. We hope your time here becomes an unforgettable moment in your lives,” he said.
Commander Peggy Whitson, Ax-4 mission lead, responded: “We really enjoyed ourselves up here. It was an amazing experience… It’s special to work with folks who became our friends. The camaraderie and teaching were really exceptional.”
On Sunday, Shukla delivered his own farewell message, quoting Indian space pioneer Rakesh Sharma with a modern twist: “Aaj ka Bharat abhi bhi saare jahaan se acha dikhta hai” (Today’s India is still more splendid than the entire world).
The Ax-4 crew includes Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), European Space Agency astronaut Slawosz “Suave” Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) astronaut Tibor Kapu.
According to NASA, the Dragon is carrying back over 580 pounds of cargo, including NASA hardware and data from more than 60 experiments conducted during the mission.
Axiom Mission 4 launched on June 25 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon docked with the ISS on June 26 at 4:05 PM IST, ahead of schedule, and remained attached to the Harmony module for nearly 20 days. (ANI)
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