KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — The four-member crew of Axiom Space’s fourth private mission to the International Space Station has docked with the floating laboratory early Thursday morning for a two-week stay.
What You Need To Know
- They will spend two weeks on the International Space Station
- They will conduct more than 60 experiments
- RELATED coverage: Despite technical issue, SpaceX launches Axiom 4 mission
- Get more space coverage here ▶
- 🔻Scroll down to watch the docking🔻
Cmdr. Peggy Whitson, pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu took off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center early Wednesday morning.
After leaving Earth at 2:31 a.m. ET, they docked with the International Space Station’s Harmony module at around 6:32 a.m. ET, Thursday, stated both NASA and Axiom Space.
Docking confirmed! pic.twitter.com/EK8Acky3V1
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 26, 2025
It was originally supposed to dock at 7 a.m. ET.
"We are honored to be here," Whitson said once the docking was completed.
This is SpaceX's latest and last crewed Dragon capsule named Grace, which was christened by Whitson.
For retired NASA astronaut and current Axiom Space’s director of Human Spaceflight, this is Whitson second mission to the space station for the Texas-based company.
She was recently inducted into the 2025 U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.
For her three male crewmembers who hail from Poland, Hungary and India, it is their first time to be in space. And it is their nations’ first government-sponsored human spaceflight in more than 40 years.
The quartet brought more than 60 experiments, ranging from medical, studying Earth’s upper atmospheric thunderstorms and testing pharmaceutical medicine’s shelf life in space.
Dr. Lucie Low, Axiom Space’s chief scientist, explained the importance of some of these experiments with Spectrum News.
Dr. Lucie Low of @Axiom_Space shared with me some of the more than 60 experiments being launched during the #Ax4 mission and which one she is most interested in.
— 🚀Anthony Leone🌕 (@AnthonyLeone) June 25, 2025
Learn more about the mission in my @MyNews13 story: https://t.co/JaYHf3go0m pic.twitter.com/Lw0t2T1MMU
The Axiom 4 mission saw a number of launch delays, ranging from a technical issue early Wednesday morning to leaks on the ISS.
The Ax-4 crew will spend about two weeks on the ISS until they return home in a splashdown off the coast of California.