Axiom coordinating with NASA on ISS Zvezda module anomaly: ISRO on Shubhanshu Shukla's space trip

The Indian Space Research Organisation on Saturday said that Axiom Space is coordinating with National Aeronautics and Space Administration on the ISS Zvezda module anomaly.

"Observations on Falcon-9 LOX leak have been resolved by @SpaceX. @Axiom_Space is coordinating with
@NASA on the ISS Zvezda module anomaly. The earliest possible launch date for #Ax4 is being worked out," said ISRO in a post on X.


The Axiom Space mission was to blast-off from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 11, but had to be delayed first due to a fuel leak in SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket and then due to a leak in the Russian section of the International Space Station (ISS).

"During a follow-on coordination meeting between ISRO, Axiom Space, and SpaceX, it was confirmed that the liquid oxygen leak observed in the Falcon 9 launch vehicle has been successfully resolved," the ISRO said in a statement.

"Separately, Axiom Space informed that they are working closely with NASA to assess the pressure anomaly in the Zvezda Service Module on board the International Space Station," it said.

"Axiom Space is now targeting June 19, 2025, for the launch of the Ax-04 mission," ISRO said.

The astronauts were originally scheduled for lift-off on May 29, which was put off to June 8, June 10 and June 11, when SpaceX, the providers of the launch rocket and the space capsule, detected a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon-9 rocket.

Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, Peggy Whitson, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as the pilot.

The two mission specialists are European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

The 14-day mission will "realise the return" to human spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary.