Ax-4 crew, including India's Shubhanshu Shukla, begin training in Germany

BENGALURU: After completing a module in the US, the Axiom Mission-4 (Ax-4) crew, including Gaganyaan astronaut-designate Shubhanshu Shukla from India, began training at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany.

The training is in preparation for their mission to the International Space Station (ISS), scheduled for no earlier than spring 2025. The Ax-4 mission, which will be commanded by veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson, Axiom Space's Director of Human Spaceflight, will be piloted by Shukla.

The other crew members are ESA project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski from Poland and Hungarian mission specialist Tibor Kapu. India sent another astronaut-designate, Prashanth Nair, as Shukla’s backup.

“The crew’s comprehensive training programme spans multiple international facilities. At ESA’s EAC, Shukla and his teammates are familiarising themselves with European systems, particularly the Columbus module — Europe’s state-of-the-art science laboratory on the Space Station. The 75-cubic-metre facility houses ten standardised payload racks for conducting various scientific experiments in zero gravity,” ESA said.

Beyond their European training, the team will also prepare at facilities in Japan (JAXA) and the US (NASA, SpaceX, and Axiom Space) while awaiting final approval from the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP). The mission represents a growing international collaboration in space exploration, with Shukla’s role as pilot highlighting India's expanding presence in commercial space missions.

The crew will conduct research in the Columbus laboratory, which features dedicated data links and supports experiments ranging from biology and physiology to fluid science and Earth observation.

Axiom Space CEO Michael Suffredini earlier said that the mission represents their continued efforts to build opportunities for countries to research, innovate, test, and engage with people around the world while in low-Earth orbit. “...Our collaboration with ESA for a second time and the inclusion of Hungary and India underscores our ability to cultivate global partners, expand the scope of exploration, and open up new avenues to grow a global space economy,” Suffredini said, while Whitson said that with a culturally diverse crew, the mission was not only advancing scientific knowledge but also fostering international collaboration.

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