AXIOM-4 launch postponed to June 11
New Delhi, Jun 9 (PTI): Due to weather conditions, the launch of Axiom-4 mission carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station has been postponed to June 11, the ISRO said on Monday evening.
SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket was scheduled to blast off from the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) in Florida on Tuesday evening.
"Due to weather conditions, the launch of Axiom-4 mission for sending Indian Gaganyatri to International Space Station is postponed from 10th June 2025 to 11th June 2025.The targeted time of launch is 5:30 PM IST on 11th June 2025," the Indian Space Reserch Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan said.
Shukla's travel to space marks India's return to human spaceflight 41 years after Rakesh Sharma scripted history by undertaking a journey to space onboard Soviet Russia's Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.
The Lucknow-born Shukla, who goes by the call sign ‘Shuks’, is part of an ISRO-NASA supported commercial spaceflight by Axiom Space where all the customers are national governments.
The Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission comprises Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot Shukla and specialists Tigor Kapu of Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland.
The 14-day mission will "realise the return" to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary.
Launch of Axiom-4 mission to International Space Station:
— ISRO (@isro) June 9, 2025
Due to weather conditions, the launch of Axiom-4 mission for sending Indian Gaganyatri to International Space Station is postponed from 10th June 2025 to 11th June 2025.
The targeted time of launch is 5:30 PM IST on 11th…
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TMC leader killed in Bengal's Birbhum
Kolkata (PTI): A local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader was murdered by unidentified assailants in West Bengal's Birbhum district, police said on Saturday.
Rajbehari Sardar (65), TMC's booth chief in Patisara gram panchayat, was stabbed and severely beaten up by around five-six people at a function in Nanoor area around 10 pm on Friday, a police officer said.
Sardar was taken to Mangalkot Hospital in neighbouring Purba Bardhaman district where he was declared dead by doctors, he said.
The deceased's son alleged that Sardar was killed by members of a rival faction of the party.
The local TMC leadership said Sardar was a committed party worker and was popular in the area, but claimed that there was no report of the involvement of anyone from the party in the murder.
"We demand a thorough and prompt investigation into the incident," a local TMC leader said.
