Private Crew Docks with International Space Station

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, carrying the all-private Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew.

The capsule attached to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module.

This is the fourth fully private mission to the ISS and includes a diverse, international crew: mission commander Peggy Whitson — a former NASA astronaut and now director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space — ISRO pilot Shubhanshu Shukla (India), ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland), and HUNOR astronaut Tibor Kapu (Hungary).

The crew will spend roughly two weeks in orbit, conducting experiments in microgravity, participating in educational outreach, and carrying out commercial research.

The mission reflects the growing cooperation between NASA, international space agencies, and private space companies like SpaceX, marking another step forward in expanding global access to space.