Overview

• Axiom-4 is set to lift off on June 25 from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule bound for the International Space Station.
• The mission will carry Joy, a five-inch plush swan, to serve as the zero-gravity indicator marking the onset of weightlessness.
• Crew members selected the swan for its cultural resonance, drawing on Indian mythology’s Saraswati and symbolizing purity, discernment, and wisdom.
• The international crew features India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, Hungary’s Tibor Kapu, Poland’s Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson.
• Axiom Space is operating the flight in partnership with SpaceX and NASA, while Joy upholds a zero-gravity tradition that began with Yuri Gagarin’s 1961 mission.