BENGALURU: After multiple delays and rescheduling of dates, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday said the most anticipated Axiom-4 space mission will probably launch on June 22.
Taking to social media platform X, ISRO announced the new date after Indian scientists discussed with their counterparts from Poland and Hungary. These two countries have sent two of their astronauts on the 14-day manned mission to the International Space Station along with India's Gaganyatri Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla.
Members from Axiom Space and NASA were also part of the discussion that was held to address the multiple delays parameters.
"Based on the readiness status of the SpaceX Falcon-9 launch vehicle, the Dragon spacecraft, repairs in the Zvezda module of the Space Station, ascent corridor weather conditions, and the health and preparedness of the crew in quarantine, Axiom Space has informed that the next probable launch date is June 22, 2025," ISRO said.
Earlier, on June 14, ISRO had announced that the mission will launch on June 19, 2025. But later in the day, the date was withdrawn, and ISRO said the next launch date will soon be announced.
The launch was initially targeted for May 29, but was deferred to June 8, 2025, because of the observations in the electrical harness in the Crew Dragon Module. The launch was then postponed to June 9 because of the delay in the preparedness of the Falcon-9 vehicle. The mission was the postponed to June 10 due to poor weather conditions at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Additionally, during inspections and hot fire tests that were conducted on June 8, the team had observed an oxygen leak in the engine bay. Anomalies in one of the engine's actuators were also observed. The launch was then rescheduled to June 11, anticipating that the issues would be addressed.
On June 11, NASA and ISRO flagged their concern to Roscosmos- Russia’s Space Agency, to evaluate the new pressure signature in the Zvezda Service Module in the ISS due to the air leak. During discussions, ISRO had recommended to Axiom Space, NASA and SpaceX to carry out in-situ repairs or replacements and conduct a low temperature leak test to validate the performance of the system before going ahead with the launch.
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.
(With inputs from PTI)