Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian air force is among the four-member multi-country crew of Ax-4 that will be spending two weeks on the ISS.

The flight, scheduled for 10 June at 08:22 EDT (12:22GMT; 17:52IST), has generated a huge interest in India as Group Captain Shukla will only be the second Indian ever to travel to space and the first to visit the ISS.

The trip comes 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to fly to space aboard a Russian Soyuz in 1984. He spent nearly eight days there.

Ax-4 is led by former Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson - a space veteran who has been commander of ISS twice, spent hundreds of days in space and done 10 space walks.

The team also includes Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary - just like the Indian astronaut, they will also be taking their countries back to space after more than four decades.

Experts say the pilot's role is key, as he would serve as second-in-command to the mission commander, assisting with spacecraft operations during launch, docking, undocking and return to Earth.