Axiom 4 Mission postponed for the fourth time due to LOx leak
SpaceX has delayed the launch of the Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station because of a Liquid Oxygen (LOx) leak that was found during inspections.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) June 11: The Axiom-4 space mission, which is scheduled to send India's Shubhanshu Shukla and three other people to the International Space Station, was delayed once more on Wednesday. This time, the delay was due to a technical issue with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket which is being used to launch the mission.
The Axiom-4 mission has already been postponed four times. It was previously rescheduled for June 11 due to bad weather. The mission was scheduled to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Station in Florida at 5:30 pm Indian time.
The engineers had discovered a liquid oxygen (LOX) leak after inspecting the rocket boosters after a static fire which caused the delay.
In an official announcement, SpaceX said it was "standing down" from the Falcon-9 launch to give time for the necessary repairs. The statement said, “Standing down from tomorrow’s Falcon-9 launch of Ax-4 to the International Space Station to allow additional time for SpaceX teams to repair the LOX (liquid oxygen) leak identified during post-static fire booster inspections. Once complete – and pending range availability – we will share a new launch.”
According to ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan, the problem was found during a standard seven-second heat test intended to verify the functionality of the Falcon-9 boosters.
He said, “The ISRO team discussed with experts at Axiom and SpaceX and it was decided that the leak would be fixed and necessary validation tests conducted before clearing for the launch."
Axiom Space in a statement said, "During the post-static fire investigation of the Falcon-9 booster that supports the Axiom-4 mission, SpaceX teams identified a liquid oxygen leak that requires additional work.”
Group Captain Shukla will be the first Indian to go to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a private astronaut mission that will take out from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The Indian Space Research Organisation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Axiom Space Inc. are working together on the mission.
Shukla will be joined by Tibor Kapu from Hungary, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland, and Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and mission commander. After docking, the astronauts will spend up to 14 days working on a mission that includes outreach, science, and business operations within the orbiting laboratory.
Aadrika Tayal
