SpaceX's Axiom 4 mission postponed again, India's Shubhanshu Shukla's maiden journey to ISS delayed

A liquid oxygen system leakage was detected in the propulsion bay during a test. This is the third time that the ambitious mission has been postponed.

Chennai: Almost 12 hours before the much-awaited launch, the Axiom 04 mission sending Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station was on Wednesday postponed indefinitely after a liquid oxygen system leakage was detected in the propulsion bay during a test.

This is the third time that the ambitious mission, which will take the second Indian astronaut to space after Rakesh Sharma in 1984 as part of Soviet Interkosmos programme, has been postponed.

SpaceX owned by American billionaire Elon Musk and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) made the postponement announcement at around 6.30 AM IST in separate statements, maintaining that they need time to rectify the problems. The launch was scheduled for 5.30 PM IST.

ISRO sources said the agency put safety of the astronauts first by seeking for a postponement until the snag was rectified. ISRO chairman Dr V Narayanan is in the US to oversee the preparations. 

Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) is a planned private spaceflight to the ISS carrying astronauts from India, Hungary, and Poland. The flight is operated by Axiom Space in partnership with SpaceX and NASA.

The flight carrying Shukla was announced by US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of greater collaboration between the US’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and ISRO.

“Standing down from tomorrow’s Falcon 9 launch of Ax-4 to the ISS to allow additional time for SpaceX teams to repair the LOx (liquid oxygen system) leak identified during post-static fire booster inspections. Once complete – and pending Range availability – we will share a new launch date,” SpaceX said.

Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh a joint review by ISRO, Axiom, and SpaceX teams decided to rectify the issue and revalidate before liftoff.

ISRO chairman Dr V Narayanan also acknowledged that a liquid oxygen system leakage was detected in the propulsion bay during the test following which the mission was postponed. The leakage was detected during a 7-second hot test carried out at the launch pad to validate the performance of the booster stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

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

The AX-4 crew and SpaceX teams had completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities, but last minute snag has delayed its launch once again. It was scheduled to be launched on June 8, postponed to June 10, and then to June 11.

Shukla, who was commissioned into the Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter wing in June 2006, became Group Captain in March 2024 with 2,000 hours of flight experience across aircraft.

ISRO, which has successfully unfurled the Indian flag on the moon, is planning to send a manned lunar mission.