India, Poland, Hungary Launch First Astronauts in Decades

India, Poland, and Hungary sent astronauts to space. This was their first astronaut mission in many years. The astronauts traveled to the International Space Station on a private flight.

The three countries paid for the two-week space trip together. Axiom Space said each ticket cost over $65 million. Axiom Space is a company that made the arrangements for the space travel.

The SpaceX Falcon rocket launched from Florida after a delay. The rocket carried four astronauts to the space station. Peggy Whitson, an experienced astronaut from America, was also on board.

The crew also included Shubhanshu Shukla from India and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland was the fourth astronaut. They will do experiments and eat special foods from their home countries.

The astronauts took foods from their cultures to space. These included Indian curry, Hungarian paprika, and Polish pierogies. These foods allowed them to share their heritage with others on the ISS.