Axiom-4 Mission Gets Postponed Due to Technical Issue

(MENAFN) The Axiom-4 mission, which was set to send four crew members, including one from India, to the International Space Station (ISS), has been delayed once more due to a technical issue, as confirmed by both the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and SpaceX on Wednesday.

V. Narayanan, Chairman of ISRO, explained that during the preparation of the launch vehicle, a "seven-second hot test" was conducted on the Falcon 9 booster stage to assess its performance.

During this test, a "LOX leakage was detected in the propulsion bay," Narayanan stated in his report.

Following discussions between the ISRO team, Axiom, and SpaceX experts, it was decided that the leak would be fixed, and additional validation tests would be carried out before the launch is cleared. As a result, the Axiom 04 mission, originally scheduled for June 11, has been postponed.

SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, also announced that it is "standing down" from the Falcon 9 launch of Axiom Mission 4 to the ISS.

The launch, which was planned from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will be delayed to "allow more time for SpaceX teams to repair the LOX leak identified during post-static fire booster inspections."

The agency stated that once repairs are completed and "pending range availability," they will announce a new launch date.

SpaceX further noted that the crew on this mission is set to perform over 60 scientific experiments and demonstrations, focusing on human research, Earth observation, and the fields of life, biological, and material sciences.

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