Florida: The Axiom-4 mission, which includes a crew member from India, has experienced another delay in its journey to the International Space Station (ISS) following the detection of a leak. This postponement was announced by the Indian space agency and SpaceX after a technical issue was identified during preparations for the mission's launch.

According to Anadolu Agency, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman, V. Narayanan, stated that a seven-second hot test was conducted on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle's booster stage at the launch pad. During this test, a leakage of Liquid Oxygen (LOX) was discovered in the propulsion bay. As a result, ISRO, along with experts from Axiom and SpaceX, decided to address the leak and perform the necessary validation tests before proceeding with the launch. Originally scheduled for June 11, the Axiom-4 launch has now been postponed.

SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, confirmed its decision to stand down from the Falcon 9 launch of Axiom Space's Axiom Mission 4 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The delay will provide SpaceX teams with additional time to repair the LOX leak identified during post-static fire booster inspections. The space agency assured that a new launch date would be announced once repairs are completed and range availability is confirmed.

According to SpaceX, the mission's crew is set to conduct over 60 scientific experiments and demonstrations focused on various fields, including human research, Earth observation, and life, biological, and material sciences. NASA has specified that Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and the director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will lead the commercial mission. ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as the pilot, with European Space Agency project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary as mission specialists.