Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's launch on board the Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has been rescheduled to June 22, Axiom Space announced on Wednesday.
The reschedule was done to allow NASA more time to evaluate the performance of the space station after recent Russian segment maintenance on the station.
Originally scheduled for June 19, the mission would have departed from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. It is a historic milestone return to spaceflight for India, Hungary, and Poland.
"NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX now aim no earlier than Sunday, June 22, for launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4," an official announcement posted by Axiom Space read.
The agency said the updated launch schedule enables NASA "to continue assessing space station operations following recent repair efforts in the aft (rear) most part of the International Space Station's Zvezda service module."
Axiom-4 mission commander is veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson, and Shubhanshu Shukla is pilot. Joining them are Hungary's Tibor Kapu and Poland's Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski as mission specialists.
This launch has already encountered various delays. It was initially planned for May 29, subsequently delayed to June 8, then further postponed on June 10 and 11. These changes were due to a detected liquid oxygen leak in Falcon 9's boosters, in addition to leak worries about the aging Russian module of the ISS.
In a post posted on X (previously Twitter), Axiom Space reassured the public: "The #Ax4 crew is still in quarantine in Florida to keep all medical and safety procedures in place. The crew is healthy and in high spirits and can't wait for launch."
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