Peggy Whitson Archives - Eastern Range

February 4, 2026

Axiom Space Chosen To Fly Fifth Private Mission To ISS

Ax-3 On The Launch Pad Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Axiom Space has secured another trip to the International Space Station after NASA selected the Houston-based company for a fifth commercial crew mission to the orbital outpost.

Axiom Mission 5 could launch as early as January 2027 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, with a four-person crew spending approximately two weeks conducting research and technology demonstrations aboard the station. The actual launch date will depend on spacecraft scheduling and ISS operational needs.

NASA chose Axiom through a competitive process outlined in the agency’s March 2025 Research Announcement. The selection continues a pattern of relying on private missions to maximize utilization of the aging laboratory before its eventual retirement.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman framed the announcement as proof that commercial human spaceflight has matured from proof-of-concept flights into routine operations—capabilities the agency views as essential groundwork for lunar and Martian expeditions.

The ISS Program Office sees these commercial visits as opportunities to cultivate new markets and validate technologies while preserving the station’s scientific and diplomatic functions. As NASA works toward handing off low Earth orbit operations to private providers, missions like Ax-5 serve as both revenue generators and testbeds for the post-ISS era.

As before, the mission will fly aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, launched by a Falcon 9.

Axiom Crews

Mission	Launch Date	Crew
Axiom-1	April 8, 2022	Michael López-Alegría (Cmdr) — USA/Spain Larry Connor (Pilot) — USA Eytan Stibbe (MS) — Israel Mark Pathy (MS) — Canada
Axiom-2	May 21, 2023	Peggy Whitson (Cmdr) — USA John Shoffner (Pilot) — USA Ali Alqarni (MS) — Saudi Arabia Rayyanah Barnawi (MS) — Saudi Arabia
Axiom-3	January 18, 2024	Michael López-Alegría (Cmdr) — USA/Spain Walter Villadei (Pilot) — Italy Alper Gezeravcı (MS) — Turkey Marcus Wandt (MS) — Sweden
Axiom-4	June 25, 2025	Peggy Whitson (Cmdr) — USA Shubhanshu Shukla (Pilot) — India Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (MS) — Poland Tibor Kapu (MS) — Hungary
Axiom-5	NET January 2027	Crew TBD

Axiom will nominate its crew roster for Axiom 5 to NASA for its approval and international partner agencies. Selected astronauts will then complete training alongside NASA personnel and the spacecraft operator before flight.

July 15, 2025

Axiom 4 Departs ISS, Returns Safely To Earth

infrared view of Axiom 4 under parachutes — SpaceX feed showing an infrared camera capture of Axiom 4’s descent this morning
Via: SpaceX

Early Tuesday morning, July 15 at 5:31 AM Eastern Time, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule “Grace” brought the crew of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) back to Earth with a smooth splashdown off the southern California coast. They had undocked from the International Space Station just over 22 hours earlier, at 6:15 a.m. CT on Monday, July 14. The landing marks the end of a successful 18-day journey in low Earth orbit.

Commander Peggy Whitson of the United States led the four-person team, which also included Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India and Mission Specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. Their flight marked a historic return to space for India, Poland, and Hungary—each country’s first astronaut mission in more than four decades—and the inaugural ISS expeditions for all three.

“Ax-4 illustrates the power of commercial partnerships in opening space to more nations,” said Tejpaul Bhatia, CEO of Axiom Space. “By giving Indian, Polish, and Hungarian astronauts hands-on access to the orbiting laboratory, we’re broadening global participation in human spaceflight and laying the groundwork for a dynamic low-Earth-orbit economy.”

During their stay aboard the station, the crew carried out over 60 experiments spanning life sciences, materials physics, Earth observation, and cutting-edge technology tests. Those investigations, drawn from 31 countries, underscore the mission’s international reach and its role in pushing the frontiers of microgravity research.

Beyond the lab work, the Ax-4 astronauts took part in more than 20 outreach events—engaging with students, government leaders, researchers, media outlets, and aspiring spacefarers—to share insights from their mission, spark curiosity about STEM, and demonstrate the value of global teamwork in space exploration.

Ax-4 is the fourth private astronaut flight Axiom Space has arranged to the ISS, making it the only company so far to have sent private crews into orbit. These ventures not only give governments, universities, companies, and private citizens direct access to space but also pave the way toward Axiom’s ultimate goal: building and operating Axiom Station, the first commercial space habitat.

Previous Axiom missions have carried crew members from the U.S., Spain, Israel, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Türkiye, and Sweden, in partnership with ESA. With Ax-4’s success, Axiom Space continues to demonstrate the value of international collaboration and the promise of a new era in commercial spaceflight.

Replay Of Landing

April 17, 2025

Next Month’s Ax-4 Private Mission To ISS Promises To Be Very Busy

Ax-4 crew members Tibor Kapu, Peggy Whitson, Sławosz Uznański, Shubhanshu Shukla during underwater training.
Photo: Axiom Space

Axiom Space has released new information about the scientific and technological goals for its upcoming Ax-4 mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for launch no earlier than May 2025.

Commanded by veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson (U.S.), the Ax-4 crew includes pilot Shubhanshu Shukla (India), mission specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (ESA/Poland), and mission specialist Tibor Kapu (Hungary). The team will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule from the Eastern Range no earlier than late May.

Ax-4 Will Perform The Most Research-Driven Axiom Mission To Date

The mission will carry roughly 60 science and research payloads involving partners from 31 countries — including the U.S., India, Hungary, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, the UAE, and others across Europe. This marks the most research-driven mission Axiom has led to date, reinforcing the growing international momentum behind low-Earth orbit science and commercial space collaboration.

Much of the research on the mission will be driven by the crew members’ home countries, including experiments from India’s ISRO, Poland in partnership with the European Space Agency, Hungary’s HUNOR program, and the United States. Axiom is also collaborating with research institutions and universities to study how spaceflight affects the human body and how these insights can improve healthcare back on Earth.

Ax-4 Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Commander Peggy Whitson, and Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski [Right] have been training to live and work aboard the space station for the past eight months in preparation for their mission, which is targeted to launch no earlier than May 2025.

Ax-4 is a key step in building a sustainable research and business environment in orbit — and in paving the way for Axiom Station, the company’s planned commercial space station.

Axiom has been making strides in getting their Station completed, launched and connected to ISS — a multi-pronged highly complex program. They recently demonstrated a successful detailed simulation of the capturing and attaching Axiom Station to ISS, a key milestone on the way towards launching the real thing sometime in 2027.

Ax-4 crew member Sławosz Uznański holds a silver packet up to a machine.
Photo: Axiom Space

Ax-4 Crew and Launch Plans

Axiom-Led Research

Axiom’s research program spans critical areas in space health and biology. Highlights include:

Supporting astronauts with insulin-dependent diabetes during spaceflight.
Studying how microgravity affects brain function, joints, blood flow, and psychological adaptation.
Gathering health data using wearables and smart devices.
Investigating cancer progression and stem cell behavior in space.
Monitoring radiation exposure and its effects on human tissue.

India: ISRO

India’s space agency, ISRO, is running several biology and materials science experiments in partnership with NASA and ESA. Focus areas include:

Visual and cognitive responses to screen use in microgravity.
Microgravity effects on algae and cyanobacteria strains.
Studying muscle degeneration and crop seed germination in orbit.
Identifying genetic resilience to extreme space environments.

Poland / ESA

With ESA support, Poland is conducting a wide-ranging scientific package focused on astronaut health, physiology, and advanced technology. Research will explore:

Mental health and behavioral responses in space.
Bone loss, gut microbiome changes, and immune system function.
Wearable tech performance and biomedical data monitoring.
New pharmaceutical storage methods and radiation sensors.
Microgravity experiments with algae, tardigrade genes, and neurofeedback tools.

Hungary: HUNOR Program

Hungary’s national space research initiative is contributing a diverse set of studies covering biology, physics, propulsion, and education:

Microbiome studies of astronauts.
Effects of spaceflight on cognition, cardiovascular function, and motor control.
Advanced propulsion experiments using low-melting-point metals.
Demonstrating 3D printing behavior, microfluidic drug testing, and smart clothing technologies in orbit.
Collaborative educational physics experiments simulating gravity and atmospheric dynamics.

April 3, 2025

Axiom Space’s Ax-4 Mission To ISS Slated For May

Axiom Space announced today that the Ax-4 private mission to ISS will launch No Earlier Than May 2025. No specific launch date was given, and will be announced in the future as the launch draws closer. Commanded by veteran former NASA astronaut and current Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight Peggy Whitson, the crew of four will fly to ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon.

The Ax-4 Crew. From left, Mission Pilor Shubhanshu Shukla, Commander Peggy Whitson, Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu on the right.
Photo: Axiom Space

The crew is scheduled to spend up to 14 days aboard the ISS, engaging in a variety of scientific research, outreach initiatives, and commercial activities.

In addition to Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, an officer in the Indian Air Force and astronaut with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists include Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a project astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA) representing Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. Notably, this mission marks the first time astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary will visit the ISS, representing each nation’s first government-sponsored human spaceflight in over 40 years.

Ax-4 Mission Objectives

Ax-4 will be a busy mission, as it is slated to conduct approximately 60 scientific experiments and activities involving participants from 31 nations, such as the United States, India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, and various European countries. This marks the highest number of research initiatives undertaken on an Axiom Space mission to the International Space Station (ISS) thus far, highlighting the mission’s global importance and collaborative spirit in advancing microgravity research in low-Earth orbit (LEO).

The mission places a particular emphasis on scientific endeavors led by the countries represented in the Ax-4 crew, including the United States, India, Poland (in collaboration with the European Space Agency), and Hungary. The research conducted will enhance global understanding in areas such as human health, Earth observation, and life, biological, and material sciences, reflecting the space research capabilities of the crew’s home countries.

Axiom Space is also collaborating with research organizations and academic institutions to further investigate the effects of spaceflight on the human body and to explore how space-based research can lead to improvements in health and medical treatments on Earth. The mission underscores the significance of commercial and academic partnerships, as Axiom Space spearheads the development of a global research community and a sustainable economic ecosystem in LEO. The mission also sets the stage for Axiom Station, the first commercial space station, which will provide a permanent platform for research, manufacturing, and human spaceflight.