Fourth Time In 14 Days: Axiom-4 Mission Postponed Again Due To Liquid Oxygen Leak
- By Thetripurapost Desk, Florida
- Jun 11, 2025
- 347
The Axiom-4 mission to be launched for the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed for the fourth time. It was scheduled to be launched today at 5.30 pm Indian time.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that the performance of the launch vehicle's booster stage was checked on Wednesday morning ahead of the launch of SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
During this, a 7-second hot test was conducted on the launch pad. Then LOX leakage (oxygen leak) was detected in the propulsion bay, after which the mission was postponed. The new date will be announced soon.
This is the fourth time its launch has been postponed. Earlier, the mission was to be launched on May 29. Later it was scheduled for June 8. After that it was scheduled for June 10, then June 11.
In Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), four astronauts from four countries are going to the space station for 14 days. Shubhanshu will be the first to visit the ISS and the second Indian to go into space. Earlier, Rakesh Sharma had traveled to space in 1984 in a Soviet Union spacecraft.
If the four astronauts, including Shubhanshu, had left today, they would have reached the ISS at 10 pm on June 12. They were to return to Earth around June 25-26. A brand new Dragon spacecraft is being used in this mission.
The main objective of the Ax-4 mission is to do research in space and test new technology. This mission is also to promote private space travel and is part of the Axium Space Planning, which plans to build a commercial space station (Axium Station) in the future.
Scientific experiments: Performing various experiments in microgravity.
Technology Testing: Testing and development of new technologies in space.
International Cooperation: To provide a platform for astronauts from different countries.
Educational Activities: To inspire and spread awareness among people on Earth from space.