Axiom-4 mission postponed due to LOx leak, delaying Shubhanshu Shukla's team again — all you need to know

SpaceX on June 11 said the extremely awaited(p) Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission, using its Falcon 9 spacecraft, is being delayed to complete repair works related to an LOx leak. The mission was set to take Indian Air Force officer Shubhanshu Shukla and three other crew members to the International Space Station (ISS) on June 11.

In its own post, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that the leak was detected during post static fire booster inspections, and a new date would be shared soon.

A new date was not immediately stated, but an announcement is expected soon. ISRO said that the launch will only be cleared after the leak is resolved and necessary validation test by experts of Axiom and SpaceX are completed.

According to the NASA website, LOx is an integrated liquid oxygen and methane propulsion system where common propellants are fed to the reaction control system and main engines offers advantages in performance, simplicity, reliability, and reusability.

This is the second time that the Ax-4 mission has been delayed, after the launch was postponed by a day from June 10 to June 11, due to weather conditions.

“Standing down from tomorrow’s Falcon 9 launch of Ax-4 to the Space Station to allow additional time for SpaceX teams to repair the LOx leak identified during post static fire booster inspections. Once complete – and pending Range availability – we will share a new launch date,” the official account posted on X.

In its statement on the delay, also posted on X on June 11, ISRO said that the mission, which would have sent the first Indian Gaganyatri (astronaut) to ISS, has been postponed.

“As part of launch vehicle preparation to validate the performance of booster stage of Falcon 9 launch vehicle, seven second of hot test was carried out on the launch pad. It is understood that LOX leakage was detected in the propulsion bay during the test,” ISRO stated.

“Based on the discussion on this topic by ISRO team with the experts of Axiom and SpaceX it has been decided to correct the leak and carry out necessary validation test before clearing for the launch. Hence the launch of Axiom 04 slated for 11th June 2025 for sending first Indian Gaganyatri to ISS is postponed,” it added.

When the mission takes place, Shubhanshu Shukla will have the distinction of being the first Indian in history to visit the ISS and the second Indian in space after astronaut Rakesh Sharma's voyage aboard the USSR's Soyuz T-11 mission in 1984.

Notably, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel to space under the Soviet Interkosmos programme.

Now, 41 years later, Shubhanshu Shukla, will be part of a four-member crew comprising Commander Peggy Whitson of the US, Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary. The team will spend 14 days at the ISS.

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