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Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will have to wait at least until June 8th to blast off to space due to a postponement of the American Axiom-4 private mission that was originally meant for launch on May 29th. Shukla will be the first Indian to fly to the International Space Station and the second Indian to fly to space after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who flew on a Soviet Mission in 1984. The Indian government has paid almostlmost $64 million (Rs. 550 cr) for Shukla's training and spaceflight as part of Axiom-4.
"After reviewing the International Space Station flight schedule, NASA and its partners are shifting launch opportunities for several upcoming missions. The schedule adjustments provide more time to finalise mission plans, spacecraft readiness, and logistics. The new targeted no-earlier-than-launch opportunities, pending operational readiness, are: Axiom-4 Mission 4: 9:11 a.m. EDT, Sunday, June 8th," announced NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, which &nbsp;enables sustained human exploration missions &amp; operations in low Earth orbit.&nbsp;
Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/web-stories/science-technology/national-astronaut-day-2025-honouring-rakesh-sharma-shubhanshu-shukla-indias-other-space-icons-9037967">National Astronaut Day 2025: Honouring Rakesh Sharma, Shubhanshu Shukla &amp; India&rsquo;s other space icons</a>
As per the present launch timeline, Shukla will blast off to space on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:41pm Indian time, Sunday, 8th June. The launch will be carried out from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. This launch pad was built in the 1960s to accommodate the Saturn V rocket that was used in the Apollo series of missions, including the maiden moon landing by Apollo 11. Further, this launchpad has been used for multiple launches of the space shuttle. Since 2019, this site has been leased to SpaceX, which launches its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.&nbsp;
Axiom-4 will carry a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station, where they would stay for two weeks and perform 60 experiments. The astronauts would be nestled in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which sits atop the Falcon 9 rocket. This mission will facilitate the return to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, given that each nation&rsquo;s first and only government-sponsored spaceflight had taken place more than 40 years ago. The Ax-4 crew members will represent their nations in Low Earth Orbit and perform scientific experiments and demonstrations that are of high national importance.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the Axiom-4 mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
<h2>How will Axiom-4 help India's Gaganyaan Human Spaceflight programme?</h2>
Gaganyaan is India's attempt at launching its astronauts to space and returning them safely, using an indigenously developed rocket, spacecraft, and supporting technologies. Gaganyaan was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, and it is the first step in a series of sustained human spaceflight missions that the Indian Space Agency ISRO wants to carry out in a phased manner. By the end of this decade, India hopes to put an uncrewed space station in Earth orbit. By 2035, it would be used as a crewed Indian outpost that's circling the earth. By 2040, India is targeting a crewed moon landing, a feat that only America accomplished back in 1969, and China hopes to accomplish by the end of this decade.
Gaganyaan would be carried out by the Indian Space Agency ISRO, with test pilots of the Indian Air Force serving as the crew members. The four candidates &ndash; Group Captains Prashant Balakrishnan Nair, Shubhanshu Shukla, Ajit Krishnan, and Angad Pratap had completed their training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, Moscow, in 2021. Since then, they have also undergone several theoretical and practical sessions at ISRO's Human Spaceflight Centre and the Indian Air Force's Institute of Aerospace Medicine. They have also been visiting various ISRO centres, such as ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. WION had exclusively reported that, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair have been training at facilities in the US, Europe, and Japan, in preparation for Axiom-4. For Axiom-4, the primary Indian candidate is Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Ajit Krishnan is the backup candidate.&nbsp;
Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/exclusive-indian-astronauts-shukla-nair-trained-in-us-eu-japan-8927101">Exclusive: Indian astronauts Shukla, Nair trained in US, EU, Japan</a>
The Axiom-4 mission is meant to serve as a precursor to India's Gaganyaan, as Shukla's spaceflight would help India gain contemporary spaceflight experience, valuable technological and experiential insights. While serving as ISRO Chief, Dr. S. Somanath had explained to WION that human spaceflight is a highly challenging endeavour and that India only had the limited experience of Rakesh Sharma's flight in 1984. He had added that the Indian astronaut(Shukla) flying to the International space station would immensely benefit the Gaganyaan programme. Notably, the maiden spaceflight by an Indian was on a Soviet-era Soyuz T-11 spacecraft, and since then the technologies have changed drastically. Presently, in America, SpaceX is the lone entity that has a track record of reliably ferrying astronauts to the space station on their Crew Dragon craft, while Boeing faces technical troubles with their Starliner craft.

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's spaceflight has been rescheduled to June 8, marking a historic mission as the first Indian to visit the International Space Station.

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will have to wait at least until June 8th to blast off to space due to a postponement of the American Axiom-4 private mission that was originally meant for launch on May 29th. Shukla will be the first Indian to fly to the International Space Station and the second Indian to fly to space after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who flew on a Soviet Mission in 1984. The Indian government has paid almostlmost $64 million (Rs. 550 cr) for Shukla's training and spaceflight as part of Axiom-4. "After reviewing the International Space Station flight schedule, NASA and its partners are shifting launch opportunities for several upcoming missions. The schedule adjustments provide more time to finalise mission plans, spacecraft readiness, and logistics. The new targeted no-earlier-than-launch opportunities, pending operational readiness, are: Axiom-4 Mission 4: 9:11 a.m. EDT, Sunday, June 8th," announced NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, which enables sustained human exploration missions & operations in low Earth orbit. Also read | National Astronaut Day 2025: Honouring Rakesh Sharma, Shubhanshu Shukla & India’s other space icons As per the present launch timeline, Shukla will blast off to space on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 6:41pm Indian time, Sunday, 8th June. The launch will be carried out from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. This launch pad was built in the 1960s to accommodate the Saturn V rocket that was used in the Apollo series of missions, including the maiden moon landing by Apollo 11. Further, this launchpad has been used for multiple launches of the space shuttle. Since 2019, this site has been leased to SpaceX, which launches its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Axiom-4 will carry a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station, where they would stay for two weeks and perform 60 experiments. The astronauts would be nestled in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which sits atop the Falcon 9 rocket. This mission will facilitate the return to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, given that each nation’s first and only government-sponsored spaceflight had taken place more than 40 years ago. The Ax-4 crew members will represent their nations in Low Earth Orbit and perform scientific experiments and demonstrations that are of high national importance. Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the Axiom-4 mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. How will Axiom-4 help India's Gaganyaan Human Spaceflight programme? Gaganyaan is India's attempt at launching its astronauts to space and returning them safely, using an indigenously developed rocket, spacecraft, and supporting technologies. Gaganyaan was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, and it is the first step in a series of sustained human spaceflight missions that the Indian Space Agency ISRO wants to carry out in a phased manner. By the end of this decade, India hopes to put an uncrewed space station in Earth orbit. By 2035, it would be used as a crewed Indian outpost that's circling the earth. By 2040, India is targeting a crewed moon landing, a feat that only America accomplished back in 1969, and China hopes to accomplish by the end of this decade. Gaganyaan would be carried out by the Indian Space Agency ISRO, with test pilots of the Indian Air Force serving as the crew members. The four candidates – Group Captains Prashant Balakrishnan Nair, Shubhanshu Shukla, Ajit Krishnan, and Angad Pratap had completed their training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, Moscow, in 2021. Since then, they have also undergone several theoretical and practical sessions at ISRO's Human Spaceflight Centre and the Indian Air Force's Institute of Aerospace Medicine. They have also been visiting various ISRO centres, such as ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. WION had exclusively reported that, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair have been training at facilities in the US, Europe, and Japan, in preparation for Axiom-4. For Axiom-4, the primary Indian candidate is Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Ajit Krishnan is the backup candidate. Also read | Exclusive: Indian astronauts Shukla, Nair trained in US, EU, Japan The Axiom-4 mission is meant to serve as a precursor to India's Gaganyaan, as Shukla's spaceflight would help India gain contemporary spaceflight experience, valuable technological and experiential insights. While serving as ISRO Chief, Dr. S. Somanath had explained to WION that human spaceflight is a highly challenging endeavour and that India only had the limited experience of Rakesh Sharma's flight in 1984. He had added that the Indian astronaut(Shukla) flying to the International space station would immensely benefit the Gaganyaan programme. Notably, the maiden spaceflight by an Indian was on a Soviet-era Soyuz T-11 spacecraft, and since then the technologies have changed drastically. Presently, in America, SpaceX is the lone entity that has a track record of reliably ferrying astronauts to the space station on their Crew Dragon craft, while Boeing faces technical troubles with their Starliner craft.

Indian astronaut Shukla's spaceflight pushed from May 29 to June 8

Japan is trying to create electricity in space using the power of the Sun and then send it back to Earth right from there. But how will that happen since you cannot have wires dangling from space to Earth? It will be in the form of microwaves, which will be sent wirelessly, like an energy beam and would be caught by antennas.
While this might sound too unreal, everything is already in place to accomplish the mission. Japan will launch a 400-pound satellite with a 22-square-foot (2 square meters) solar panel into low Earth orbit soon. The panel will collect sunlight and use it to charge an onboard battery.
Space.com quoted Koichi Ijichi, one of the researchers, as saying, &ldquo;It will be a small satellite, about 180 kilograms [400 pounds], that will transmit about 1 kilowatt of power from an altitude of 400 kilometres." Koichi is also an advisor at Japan Space Systems (JSS).
Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science-tech/it-still-snows-on-mars-and-billions-of-years-ago-it-rained-as-well-9001332" rel="dofollow noopener" target="_blank">It still snows on Mars, and billions of years ago, it rained as well</a>
The project has been named OHISAMA, which means Sun in Japanese. The satellite launch does not have an exact date yet, but reports suggest this could happen anytime after April.
<h2>Energy will be sent to Earth wirelessly</h2>
The coolest part about the project is the transmission of electricity to Earth. With regular solar panels, energy is converted into electricity and transmitted through wires. However, that is not a possibility when sending power from space. The satellite will turn electricity into microwaves and transmit it wirelessly in the form of an energy beam. An antenna designed specially for this task will catch it.&nbsp;
Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/north-pole-can-shift-90-feet-by-2100-because-of-humans-8979495" rel="dofollow noopener" target="_blank">North Pole can shift 90 feet by 2100 because of humans</a>
The satellite will move at a speed of 28,000 kilometres per hour, which means that to catch the waves, an antenna running several kilometres is needed. However, right now the aim is to know the feasibility of this method, so a smaller antenna would be enough. Thirteen receivers spread over a 600-square-meter area in Suwa have been prepared to receive power.
<h2>Ramifications of the technology</h2>
The energy sent would only be enough to run a dishwasher for an hour, but if it works, then the technique could be utilised to produce more clean energy by making use of the sun in space.
This is not the first time the sun's energy has been reaped in space. In May 2020, the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) launched the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, which successfully converted solar energy into microwave energy in space and wirelessly transmitted it back to Earth.
Meanwhile, NASA does not think this will work since the costs associated with it are huge. It is estimated that the method would cost 61 cents per kilowatt-hour, while right now, solar and wind energy on Earth cost 5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Japan will use energy from the Sun and turn it into power, sending it wirelessly to Earth. The project has been named OHISAMA, which means Sun in Japanese. Space Science & Tech

Japan is trying to create electricity in space using the power of the Sun and then send it back to Earth right from there. But how will that happen since you cannot have wires dangling from space to Earth? It will be in the form of microwaves, which will be sent wirelessly, like an energy beam and would be caught by antennas. While this might sound too unreal, everything is already in place to accomplish the mission. Japan will launch a 400-pound satellite with a 22-square-foot (2 square meters) solar panel into low Earth orbit soon. The panel will collect sunlight and use it to charge an onboard battery. Space.com quoted Koichi Ijichi, one of the researchers, as saying, “It will be a small satellite, about 180 kilograms [400 pounds], that will transmit about 1 kilowatt of power from an altitude of 400 kilometres." Koichi is also an advisor at Japan Space Systems (JSS). Also Read: It still snows on Mars, and billions of years ago, it rained as well The project has been named OHISAMA, which means Sun in Japanese. The satellite launch does not have an exact date yet, but reports suggest this could happen anytime after April. Energy will be sent to Earth wirelessly The coolest part about the project is the transmission of electricity to Earth. With regular solar panels, energy is converted into electricity and transmitted through wires. However, that is not a possibility when sending power from space. The satellite will turn electricity into microwaves and transmit it wirelessly in the form of an energy beam. An antenna designed specially for this task will catch it. Also Read: North Pole can shift 90 feet by 2100 because of humans The satellite will move at a speed of 28,000 kilometres per hour, which means that to catch the waves, an antenna running several kilometres is needed. However, right now the aim is to know the feasibility of this method, so a smaller antenna would be enough. Thirteen receivers spread over a 600-square-meter area in Suwa have been prepared to receive power. Ramifications of the technology The energy sent would only be enough to run a dishwasher for an hour, but if it works, then the technique could be utilised to produce more clean energy by making use of the sun in space. This is not the first time the sun's energy has been reaped in space. In May 2020, the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) launched the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, which successfully converted solar energy into microwave energy in space and wirelessly transmitted it back to Earth. Meanwhile, NASA does not think this will work since the costs associated with it are huge. It is estimated that the method would cost 61 cents per kilowatt-hour, while right now, solar and wind energy on Earth cost 5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Power beam to travel from space to Earth soon. It is no alien technology

space