🚀 Falcon 9 | 🛰 Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4)
Launch date: June 9, 2025 12:46 UTC
Payload: Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4)
Location: Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Vehicle: Falcon 9
Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), the fourth private astronaut mission managed by Axiom Space, is now targeting launch at 12:46 UTC on June 9, 2025, from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The mission, using Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon C213, will carry Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and Mission Specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu for a roughly two-week stay aboard the International Space Station. Over 60 scientific and technological experiments will be conducted, focusing on human health and technology demonstrations. The mission was delayed for Crew Dragon capsule readiness, including propulsion and environmental system preparations and a battery replacement. Booster B1094 will return to LZ-1 after launch. Axiom and NASA plan a mission overview news conference on May 20 to discuss additional details.
LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA
Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is one of the most significant and iconic launch pads in spaceflight history, situated at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. Constructed in the 1960s for the Apollo program, it was the launch site of Apollo 11—the first crewed mission to land on the Moon—and later adapted for the Space Shuttle program, supporting dozens of launches over several decades.
In 2014, NASA began leasing LC-39A to SpaceX, marking a new era for the launch site. SpaceX has extensively modified the facility to support Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches, and is further upgrading the pad for Starship missions. The site is a focal point for both crewed and uncrewed flights to the International Space Station, national security launches, and commercial missions, continuing its legacy as a cornerstone of American space exploration.