Axiom-4 mission put off as SpaceX detects leak in Falcon-9 rocket

New Delhi:  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 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.

“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,” said SpaceX.