New Delhi: NASA has put off Sunday’s launch of the Axiom-4 mission carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station and a new date will be announced in the coming days.
“NASA has made the decision to stand down from a launch on Sunday, June 22, and will target a new launch date in the coming days,” Axiom Space said in a statement.
The space agency needs additional time to continue evaluating International Space Station operations after recent repair work in the aft (back) most segment of the orbital laboratory’s Zvezda service module, it said.
‘NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are now targeting no earlier than Sunday, June 22, for launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4,’ Axiom Space said in a statement.
“The change in a targeted launch date provides NASA time to continue evaluating space station operations after recent repair work in the aft (back) most segment of the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module,” it 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 #Ax4 crew remains in quarantine in Florida to maintain all medical and safety protocols. The crew is in good health and high spirits and looks forward to launch,’ Axiom Space said on X.
