Indians, Hungarians and Poles on their way to the ISS for the first time!

Indians, Hungarians and Poles on their way to the ISS for the first time!

Today, June 25, 2025, the “Ax-4” mission with the “Crew Dragon” from Axiom Space marked a significant step in commercial space travel. The mission was postponed several times due to technical problems with the rocket and the International Space Station (ISS). But now it's official: an Indian, a Hungarian and a Pole are on their way to the ISS for the first time. This mission is carried out in collaboration with the US space agency NASA and the space company SpaceX, which supplies the technology.

The crew of the “Ax-4” consists of a total of four members: Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who has completed several space flights, and three amateur astronauts, whose first space mission is this. The lay astronauts are:

• Shubhanshu Shukla (Indien, Luftwaffe)
• Tibor Kapu (Ungarn, Ingenieur)
• Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Polen, Ingenieur)

First space flight for new amateur astronauts

It is noteworthy that Shukhanshu Shukla, Tibor Kapu and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski are the first people from their respective countries to be part of the ISS crew. People from India, Poland and Hungary had previously been in space with Russian Soyuz missions in the 1970s and 1980s. The crew is expected to spend about two weeks aboard the ISS and take part in various scientific experiments.

The “Crew Dragon” is scheduled to arrive at the ISS this Thursday. Interestingly, such flights cost around 70 million euros per passenger, highlighting the increasing commercialization of space travel. Axiom Space organized the first private mission to the ISS in 2022 and conducted several follow-up missions in 2023 and 2024.

Commercial space travel and its possibilities

The commercialization of space travel opens a new chapter that includes not only space tourism, but also the manufacturing of products in space that can be produced in greater quality in conditions of weightlessness. The ISS is an ideal laboratory for experiments that cannot be carried out on Earth. Federal and European space agencies, such as the EU agency ESA, have committed significant resources to commercial and national experiments in recent years.

However, the increasing number of providers also brings challenges. Commercialization could create cost pressures and increase the risk of failures from standard components, which could, among other things, lead to more space debris. NASA recently opened the ISS to space tourists and with the increasing number of private operators, research is beginning to explore new experimental possibilities in space.

Developments in space travel show that the field is currently at a stage comparable to aviation in the 1920s. The dynamics and competition in the industry are growing, and at the same time government commitment remains necessary to secure basic research and strategic interests. Today’s “Ax-4” mission is another step into this exciting future of space travel.