The Axiom-4 mission will be carrying astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla along with three others, Tibor Kapu of Hungary, Mission Commander Peggy Whitson, and ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland to the International Space Station (ISS).
SpaceX in a statement posted on X, announced that it was "standing down" from the Falcon 9 launch of the Axiom-4 mission to the space station to allow additional time for SpaceX teams to repair the LOx leak identified during post static fire booster inspections. It further added that the new date for the launch of the mission will be announced once the repairs are complete.
Shubhanshu is on the verge of making history as the second Indian to go to space, after Astronaut Rakesh Sharma, who orbited the Earth for eight days as part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos programme. As a part of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) supported commercial spaceflight, Shubhanshu from Lucknow goes by the call sign 'Shuks'.
The Axiom-4 mission aims to carry out multiple experiments, which will also help India in its space missions.
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Shubhanshu will be carrying out the experiments at the ISS related to food and nutrition, which are developed under collaboration between ISRO and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), with support from NASA. In the mission lasting for 14 days, the Axiom-4 crew is expected to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, school students, and space industry leaders, among others.
This is the fourth time that the Axiom-4 mission has been delayed. Previously, the launch of the mission was rescheduled to June 11 because of the unfavorable weather conditions and a 45 percent chance of rain and strong winds.