CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida. India, Poland, and Hungary sent astronauts into space for the first time in over four decades on Wednesday, joining a privately funded mission to the International Space Station (ISS) organized by U.S.-based company Axiom Space.
Launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the crew includes India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, a pilot in the Indian Air Force; Hungary’s Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer; and Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, a radiation expert and European Space Agency project astronaut. They are joined by veteran U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson, who serves as the mission commander.
The launch, originally delayed due to a series of technical and safety concerns, marks Axiom Space’s fourth private mission to the ISS. Each participating country contributed to the mission cost, with Axiom pricing each seat at over $65 million.
The crew is expected to spend two weeks aboard the ISS conducting scientific experiments and engaging in outreach events with their home countries. They also brought food items symbolic of their cultures, including Indian curry, Hungarian paprika paste, and freeze-dried Polish pierogies.
“This is the journey of 1.4 billion people,” Shukla said before liftoff, expressing hope that his flight would inspire a new generation of innovators in India.
Uznanski-Wisniewski carried the same Polish flag worn by Miroslaw Hermaszewski, Poland’s first astronaut, calling him his greatest supporter before his passing in 2022. Kapu, who brought a symbolic teddy bear from Hungary’s first astronaut Bertalan Farkas, said, “Hungary gets one step closer to the stars.”
The astronauts named their SpaceX Dragon capsule “Grace” and sent messages in their native languages after reaching orbit.
Peggy Whitson, who holds the U.S. record for the longest time spent in space, now flies as an Axiom commander after retiring from NASA. Her current mission caused her to miss her induction into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame due to pre-launch quarantine.
NASA, once hesitant about commercial spaceflight, now supports private missions to the ISS, charging for accommodations and requiring an experienced astronaut onboard. This shift aligns with the agency’s broader goal of transitioning low-Earth orbit activities to the private sector ahead of the ISS’s planned retirement in 2031.
“Access to space is no longer just for the biggest agencies, space is for everyone,” Uznanski-Wisniewski said after liftoff.
Paraluman P. Funtanilla
Paraluman P. Funtanilla is Tutubi News Magazine's Marketing Specialist and is a Contributing Editor. She finished her degree in Communication Arts in De La Salle Lipa. She has worked as a Digital Marketer for start-up businesses and small business spaces for the past two years. She has earned certificates from Coursera on Brand Management: Aligning Business Brand and Behavior and Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content. She also worked with Asia Express Romania TV Show.
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
