Delayed Twice in Three Days: What’s Causing the Axiom-4 Mission Delay?

Axiom 4 Space Mission: The launch of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission to the International Space Station (ISS), which features Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, has been delayed once again this time due to a technical fault in the rocket.

This marks the second delay in just three days for the highly anticipated mission, which will make Shukla the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma’s historic 1984 mission.

SpaceX, the aerospace company owned by Elon Musk, reported that a liquid oxygen leak was found during post-test inspections.

In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX announced: “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.