India's Shubhanshu Shukla's Axiom-4 mission now targeting June 25 launch

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station is now eyeing a launch on June 25, NASA announced on Tuesday. The Axiom-4 mission, which marks the return to space for India, Hungary, and Poland, was earlier scheduled for lift-off from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 25 onboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket at 12:01 pm IST on Wednesday. "NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are targeting 2:31 a.m. EDT (12:01 IST), Wednesday, June 25, for launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4," a NASA statement said. The Axiom-4 commercial mission is led by Commander Peggy Whitson, with Shukla as mission pilot and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu and Poland's Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski as mission specialists. The mission was originally scheduled for lift-off on May 29 but was then put off to June 8, then June 10 and June 11, when engineers detected a liquid oxygen leak in the boosters of the Falcon-9 rocket and NASA also detected leaks in the ageing Russian module of the International Space Station. The launch was then planned for June 19 and then on June 22 which was put off to allow NASA evaluate operations of the ISS after repairs in the Russian module. The mission will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The crew will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the company's Falcon 9 rocket. The targeted docking time is approximately 7 am (4:30 pm IST) Thursday, June 26, NASA said. PTI