Launch of Axiom mission with Shubhanshu Shukla delayed due to technical snag

The Axiom-4 mission, which was scheduled to carry Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station on Tuesday, was put off again to fix a leak in the SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket.

SpaceX announced that it was "standing down" from the Falcon-9 launch to allow time for repairs after a post-static inspection of the rocket's boosters identified a liquid oxygen leak.

"Once complete and pending Range availability, we will share a new launch date," SpaceX said in an X post.

ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said the liquid oxygen leak was detected in the propulsion bay during a seven-second hot test on the launch pad. The hot test was to validate the performance of the booster stage of Falcon-9 launch vehicle.

"The ISRO team discussed with experts at Axiom and SpaceX and it was decided that the leak would be fixed and necessary validation tests conducted before clearing for the launch,” Narayanan said.

Hence, the Axiom-4 launch slated on June 11, 2025 to send the first Indian Gaganyatri to the International Space Station stands postponed, the ISRO chairman said.

Axiom Space spokesperson said that during the post-static fire investigation of the Falcon-9 booster that supports the Axiom-4 mission, SpaceX teams identified a liquid oxygen leak that requires additional work.

"SpaceX continues to work closely with Axiom Space and partners," Axiom Space said in a statement.

Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot Shukla and specialists Tigor Kapu of Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland were slated to embark up on the Axiom-4 mission.

The 14-day mission will "realise the return" to human spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary.

The Axiom-4 mission was originally scheduled for launch on May 29. It was first postponed to June 8 and later to June 10.

On June 10, the launch was postponed by a day due to bad weather in the flight path.

Addressing a pre-launch press conference on Monday, SpaceX Vice President William Gerstenmaier said that engineers had fixed some snags in the Falcon-9 rocket that were discovered during the static fire test and had gone unnoticed during the post-flight refurbishment of boosters.

Gerstenmaier said that engineers had discovered a locks leak that was previously seen on the booster during its entry on the last mission and was not fully repaired during the refurbishment.

"We are continuing to troubleshoot that. We should get that completed today and we will have that back in configuration. We are installing a purge that will essentially mitigate the leak if it still continues... on the launch day," he had said.

Gerstenmaier said engineers had also discovered an engine 5 thrust vector control problem and the components associated with that have already been changed.