New Delhi. Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three other crewmates on board the Axiom-4 mission have been placed in quarantine, the US-based private space company announced on Sunday. The Axiom-4 mission – a joint effort by Axiom Space, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) – is scheduled to take off on June 8 at 6:41 pm IST on a Dragon spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Axiom-4 mission will be the first time an Indian astronaut will visit the International Space Station (ISS). During the 14-day mission docked at the orbiting laboratory, the astronauts will carry out global outreach activities, microgravity research and technology demonstrations. A formal farewell was organised at Axiom Space for the crew ahead of their launch on SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket.

In a post on X, Axiom Space said, "The crew is leaving for quarantine. Before their departure, Axiom Space employees came together to celebrate. Farewelling the crew is a tradition that pays tribute to the dedication and tireless efforts of the employees before the crew departs on their mission."

Shukla, one of the four astronauts nominated for Gaganyaan, will be the pilot on X-4, while former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space Peggy Whitson will be the commander of the commercial mission. At the farewell ceremony, Shukla said, "I am sure this mission will be successful."

ISRO has paid Rs 550 crore to Shukla to be a part of this mission. The experience gained from this mission is expected to benefit ISRO's Gaganyaan project. Astronauts Slavoj Uzna?ski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are also part of the X-4 mission.