The launch of the much-awaited Axiom-4 mission carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station has been postponed again due to technical issues with the rocket.
SpaceX has announced that the Axiom-4 mission, which was scheduled for today, June 11, has been postponed again. The Astronautics company will announce a new date for the mission after fixing the liquid oxygen leak.
Standing down from tomorrow’s Falcon 9 launch of Ax-4 to the @Space_Station to allow additional time for SpaceX teams to repair the LOx leak identified during post static fire booster inspections. Once complete – and pending Range availability – we will share a new launch date pic.twitter.com/FwRc8k2Bc0
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 11, 2025
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX wrote, “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 leak identified during post static fire booster inspections.”
Why Is It Postponed This Time?
Shedding more light on why the mission has been postponed yet again, the Indian Space Research Organisation said that an LOX(Liquid Oxygen) leakage was detected in the propulsion bay during a seven-second hot test that was carried out on the launch pad. Thus, it has been decided to first correct the leak and carry out necessary validation tests before clearing it for launch, said ISRO.
Postponement of Axiom 04 mission slated for launch on 11th June 2025 for sending first Indian Gaganyatri to ISS.
As part of launch vehicle preparation to validate the performance of booster stage of Falcon 9 launch vehicle, seven second of hot test was carried out on the launch…
— ISRO (@isro) June 11, 2025
“As part of launch vehicle preparation to validate the performance of booster stage of Falcon 9 launch vehicle, seven second of hot test was carried out on the launch pad. It is understood that LOX leakage was detected in the propulsion bay during the test. Based on the discussion on this topic by ISRO team with the experts of Axiom and SpaceX it has been decided to correct the leak and carry out necessary validation test before clearing for the launch. Hence the launch of Axiom 04 slated for 11th June 2025 for sending first Indian Gaganyatri to ISS is postponed,” it said in a post on X.
Mission Has Been Postponed Before Also
This is not the first time the mission has been postponed. It was scheduled to lift off on June 10. However, the mission was postponed to June 11 due to “unfavourable weather,” the Indian Space Research Organisation announced on Monday.
Launch of Axiom-4 mission to International Space Station:
Due to weather conditions, the launch of Axiom-4 mission for sending Indian Gaganyatri to International Space Station is postponed from 10th June 2025 to 11th June 2025.
The targeted time of launch is 5:30 PM IST on 11th…
— ISRO (@isro) June 9, 2025
The mission was rescheduled to lift off at 5:30 pm IST on June 11, but has now been delayed again.
