Indian Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom-4 Mission to ISS Rescheduled to May 19 After ISRO Oxygen Leak
The long-postponed Axiom-4 commercial mission to the International Space Station, which includes Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla among its crew of four, is now scheduled to launch on June 19, according to an official release by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday.
“During a follow-on coordination meeting between ISRO, Axiom Space, and SpaceX, it was confirmed that the liquid oxygen leak observed in the Falcon 9 launch vehicle has been successfully resolved,” the ISRO said in a statement.
“Separately, Axiom Space informed that they are working closely with NASA to assess the pressure anomaly in the Zvezda Service Module on board the International Space Station,” it said.
“Axiom Space is now targeting June 19, 2025, for the launch of the Ax-04 mission,” ISRO said.
Earth sciences minister Jitendra Singh shared an update on X, he added, “🚀 Update on Axiom-4 Mission to ISS 🇮🇳🌌 Launch date of the Axiom-4 mission carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station is, as of now, rescheduled for June 19, 2025. Also, Space X team has confirmed that all the issues, that led to earlier postponement of the launch, have been duly addressed. Further update, if any, will be accordingly shared.”
Originally set to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 11, the mission faced delays—first due to a fuel leak in SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket, and later because of a leak in the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
The astronauts were originally scheduled for lift-off on May 29, which was put off to June 8, June 10 and June 11, when SpaceX, the providers of the launch rocket and the space capsule, detected a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon-9 rocket.
Former NASA astronaut and Axiom Space’s director of human spaceflight, Peggy Whitson, will lead the upcoming commercial mission as commander, with ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla serving as the pilot, PTI reported.
Joining them as mission specialists are Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, a project astronaut from the European Space Agency representing Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
The 14-day mission marks a significant milestone, symbolizing the revival of human spaceflight efforts for India, Poland, and Hungary.
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