Pole's mission to the International Space Station delayed. New launch date announced

Axiom Space has announced a new launch date for the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission, which will send Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski to the International Space Station.

Already at the end of January we informed about the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission, within which four astronauts, including Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski , will set off to the International Space Station .

During the 14-day mission, the crew will conduct a series of tests in microgravity conditions.

They will cover, among others:

• Astronauts' health
• Modern materials and technologies
• Applications of artificial intelligence in space

International Space Station / Photo: Unsplash, NASA

The mission commander will be Peggy Whitson ( USA ), and the crew will be complemented by Shubhanshu Shukla ( India ) and Tibor Kapu ( Hungary ).

Additionally, as part of the Polish technological and scientific mission IGNIS, special educational projects will also be implemented.

As we read on the Axiom Space website, the mission crew successfully completed training with SpaceX , which is another important step in preparations for the upcoming mission to the International Space Station .

However, a new date has been set for the Pole's flight into space. Instead of the end of May, as initially announced, the launch is now planned for June 8 at 15:11 Polish time.

According to a press release, the SpaceX training program involves months of intensive sessions at the Human Spaceflight Training Center in Hawthorne , California . Astronauts practiced launch procedures , orbital maneuvers , and docking with the International Space Station in simulators.

- The training placed special emphasis on teamwork, management of the ship's systems, and real-time decision-making. Each astronaut learned how to operate the Dragon's touchscreen interface, respond to irregularities during flight, and communicate effectively with the SpaceX Mission Control Center - we read.

The company emphasizes that practical training was crucial to ensuring the safety of the crew and the success of the entire mission.

Preparations for the mission have been ongoing since August last year and have included numerous other training sessions around the world: at NASA ( Houston ), SpaceX ( California ), Germany and Japan .

As Axiom Space emphasizes, this will be the first mission to the International Space Station with Poland's participation. In one of the interviews, Uznański-Wiśniewski admitted that the mission is a great chance for our country to enter the space market.