India's Shubhanshu Shukla set for June 19 launch aboard Axiom-4 mission

Originally set for June 11, the Ax-4 launch was delayed after a Falcon 9 oxygen leak and a separate issue in the ISS's Russian-built Zvezda module prompted safety checks

Axiom-4, the long-awaited commercial flight to the International Space Station (ISS) that will carry Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three crewmates, is now slated for liftoff on June 19, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said on Saturday.

 

The mission had originally been set for June 11 from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. That window slipped after SpaceX engineers discovered a liquid-oxygen leak in the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, followed by a separate leak inside the Russian-built Zvezda service module aboard the ISS.

 

“During a follow-on coordination meeting between ISRO, Axiom Space, and SpaceX, it was confirmed that the liquid oxygen leak observed in the Falcon 9 launch vehicle has been successfully resolved,” Isro said. “Separately, Axiom Space informed that they are working closely with Nasa to assess the pressure anomaly in the Zvezda Service Module on board the International Space Station.” 

 

A string of postponements

 

The crew’s original departure date of May 29 had already moved to June 8, then June 10 and June 11 before technical issues forced the latest slip to June 19. SpaceX supplies both the Falcon 9 booster and the Crew Dragon capsule for the privately organised flight.

 

Former Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson, now director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the two-week mission. Isro’s Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot, while mission-specialist seats go to European Space Agency project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.   

 

  The 14-day Axiom-4 mission will “realise the return” to human spaceflight for all three participating nations — India, Poland and Hungary — marking their first crewed presence aboard the ISS in years and expanding each country’s growing commercial-space ambitions.

 

Axiom-4 mission

 

The Ax-4 mission marks the fourth private astronaut expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), and will lift off from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will travel aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

 

Nasa has already facilitated three previous private astronaut missions to the ISS under the Axiom Space programme. The inaugural flight, Ax-1, took place in April 2022 and lasted 17 days. It was followed by Ax-2 in May 2023, during which four private astronauts spent eight days in low Earth orbit. The most recent mission, Ax-3, launched in January 2024, with its crew remaining aboard the ISS for 18 days.

 

The upcoming Ax-4 mission is set to launch just a few months after Nasa astronaut of Indian origin, Sunita Williams, returned from a nearly 10-month stay in space, clocking 286 days aboard the ISS.