The Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew lifted off to the International Space Station atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from launchpad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, on 25 June at 02:31 EDT, local time (07:31 BST/08:31 CEST).

ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski travels to his new home in space in the Dragon spacecraft. Sławosz is part of Axiom Mission 4 alongside Peggy Whitson (USA), Shubhanshu Shukla (India) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary).

During their journey on the Dragon spacecraft to the orbital outpost Sławosz and Tibor serve as mission specialists, Shubhanshu is the crew’s pilot and Peggy the commander.

Ax-4 marks the second commercial human spaceflight mission for an ESA project astronaut. Sponsored by the Polish government and supported by ESA, the Polish Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (MRiT) and the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), the mission features an ambitious programme of technological and scientific research.

During the Ignis mission, Sławosz will conduct 13 experiments proposed by Polish companies and institutions and developed in collaboration with ESA, along with three additional ESA-led experiments. These cover a broad range of areas including human research, materials science, biology, biotechnology and technology demonstration.

Sławosz and his crewmates are expected to reach the International Space Station approximately 28,5 hours after launch.

Live coverage will begin two hours before docking and you can watch the crew entering the station and the welcome ceremony on ESA’s YouTube channel.

The Ignis mission will officially begin as soon as Sławosz goes through the hatch.