ISRO-NASA to conduct outreach activities as part of Axiom-4 mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will conduct two outreach activities as part of Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom-4 mission (Ax-4) to the International Space Station (ISS) which is scheduled to be launched on June 8, 2025 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Ax-4 crew consists of:

Cmdr. Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and Director of Human Spaceflight at Axiom Space.
Indian Space Research Organisation astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla.
European Space Agency astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland.
Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA in virtual mission overview press conference for the upcoming Ax-4 said, “As part of this mission NASA is partnering with the ISRO to host a joint public downlink event to showcase the strength of the international collaboration and our show of commitment to expanding access to space NASA and ISRO will also conduct five joint science investigation in addition to two outreach activities.” Further elaborating on the outreach activities, Sudeesh Balan, project director, ISRO, said that the space agency is planning two student events in which the astronaut would be interacting directly with the student community.

“One activity is a student event where the astronaut would be interacting directly with the student community... We are planning two such events across the country. Apart from that, there is an amateur radio link which is an existing tradition in the ISS. There will be an amateur radio contact with the student community... we have identified the students, and these activities are currently in progress. We have located two places in India where this will be happening,” he said.

ISRO has already shortlisted seven microgravity research experiments proposed by Indian Principal Investigators (PIs) from various national R&D laboratories and academic institutions for implementation on the ISS. In addition to this, ISRO and NASA will be conducting five more experiments, which will mainly be on human research programmes in which Group Captain Shukla will be participating in.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Ax-4 crew aboard a Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Live event with a student

Beyond the scientific goals, the mission will also serve a strong educational and outreach purpose. Shukla will interact with students across India from space in a live session as part of a dedicated event. Radio technology aboard the ISS will be used for this communication.