Outlook Business Desk
Axiom-4, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others, was scheduled for launch on June 11 at 5:30 pm IST from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The mission, a key milestone for India and two partner nations, has been delayed due to a technical issue.
The liftoff was postponed on Tuesday after engineers identified a leak in SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket. Teams are working on repairs, and a new launch date is expected once safety checks are complete.
"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 posted on X. "Once complete – and pending Range availability – we will share a new launch date," SpaceX added.
The Ax-4 mission brings together a diverse crew with astronauts from the US, India, Poland, and Hungary—marking the first ISS journey for the three partner nations. The team includes Peggy Whitson (USA), Shubhanshu Shukla (India), Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary). This is also India’s second government-backed human spaceflight in over 40 years.
The Ax-4 mission, which was also earlier scheduled for Tuesday on 10 June, faced another setback as ISRO announced a delay due to “unfavourable weather” conditions.
Peggy Whitson, the most experienced US astronaut, also led the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) to the ISS. A spaceflight legend, she was the first woman to command the ISS and remains the only one to have done it twice.
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, a pilot with the Indian Air Force, is poised to become the first Indian to step aboard the International Space Station. His journey would mark India’s return to space after 41 years, following Rakesh Sharma’s historic 1984 mission with Soviet Russia.
Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer, was selected in 2023 as one of four finalists from 247 applicants for Hungary’s HUNOR space program. He now represents Hungary in the Ax-4 mission, marking the nation’s first journey to the ISS.
Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a Polish scientist and engineer, has played a key role in global space and science research. At CERN in Geneva, he worked as a reliability expert and project lead, contributing to major advancements in particle physics and engineering.