Axiom-4, a landmark mission for three countries carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others was set to take off on Wednesday evening, June 11, at 5.30 pm IST. However, the mission to the International Space Station has been put off for the time being on Tuesday morning as engineers sought more time to repair a leak in the SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket.
SpaceX announced that it was "standing down" from the Falcon-9 launch of the Axiom-4 mission to allow repairs of the liquid oxygen leak identified during the post-static booster inspections.
"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," SpaceX said in a post on X.
Also read: Launch of Axiom-4 mission carrying India's Shubhanshu Shukla postponed due to technical snag
"Once complete – and pending Range availability – we will share a new launch date," SpaceX said.
The Ax-4 crew includes astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary. This marks all three nations' first missions to the ISS. According to Axiom Space, Ax-4 also represents India's second government-sponsored human spaceflight mission in over four decades.
{{/usCountry}}The Ax-4 crew includes astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary. This marks all three nations' first missions to the ISS. According to Axiom Space, Ax-4 also represents India's second government-sponsored human spaceflight mission in over four decades.
{{/usCountry}}Along with them, one more astronaut from the United States is also a part of the mission.
The mission was earlier scheduled to take off on Tuesday. However, it was postponed due to “unfavourable weather", the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced.
“Due to weather conditions, the launch of Axiom-4 mission for sending Indian Gaganyatri to International Space Station is postponed from 10th June 2025 to 11th June 2025. The targeted time of launch is 5:30 PM IST on 11th June 2025,” said ISRO in a post on X.
Axiom-4 will be the second commercial spaceflight mission made up of government and European Space Agency-sponsored national astronauts.
The crew
The crew for the Axiom-4 mission comprises four astronauts - United States’ Peggy Whitson, India’s Shubanshu Shukla, Poland’s Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu.
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who is a pilot with the Indian Air Force, is set to make history as the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS), and only the second Indian to travel to space, 41 years after Rakesh Sharma’s landmark 1984 mission aboard Soviet Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.
US’ Peggy Whitson, who is also the country’s most experienced astronaut, also served as commander on the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), the second all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS). During her NASA career, Whitson flew on three long-duration space flights and accumulated 665 days in space, now 675 after the Ax-2 mission, which is more than any other American astronaut or woman astronaut in the world. She is also the first female commander of the International Space Station and the only woman to serve as ISS Commander twice.
Poland’s Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski is a scientist and engineer making significant contributions to the fields of science and space exploration. He has made significant contributions at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva where he served as a reliability expert and project lead
Hungry’s Tibor Kapu is a mechanical engineer who emerged as one of four Hungarians selected from a pool of 247 candidates for the Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) Astronaut Program in 2023.
Why is Axiom 4 significant for India, Poland and Hungry?
According to Axiom Space, the Ax-4 mission will “realize the return” to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, with each nation’s first government-sponsored flight in more than 40 years. While Ax-4 marks these countries' second human spaceflight mission in history, it will be the first time all three nations will execute a mission on board the International Space Station.
When is the takeoff?
The Ax-4 crew, which includes Shukla, will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station from LC-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. A fresh launch date is yet to be announced.