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Cape Canaveral, FL - Axiom Space’s fourth commercial mission to the International Space Station has been pushed back once more amid growing concerns of an air leak in the Russian segment of the orbiting lab.
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are now targeting June 22nd for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A, after delaying the originally planned June 19th launch.
Initial setbacks included a liquid oxygen leak detected in Falcon 9 during routine inspections and adverse weather conditions at Cape Canaveral.
The mission’s latest stall stems from a “new pressure signature” identified in the Zvezda service module on June 12th.
Russian cosmonauts performed repairs and have since reported the segment is now holding steady.
NASA stated that monitoring cabin pressure is essential before allowing additional crew aboard.
Officials emphasized that the current seven-person ISS crew is not in immediate danger.
The Axiom 4 crew includes commander Peggy Whitson, pilot Shubhanshu Shukla from India, and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
Once aboard, they will conduct approximately 60 experiments covering bone health, gut microbiology, and cancer research.
Axiom 4 marks a historic moment: it will be the first ISS flight carrying astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary, and Shukla will become the first official ISRO astronaut to reach the station.
Once the leak issue is fully resolved, the crew will proceed with final readiness checks before liftoff at 3:42 a.m. EDT on June 22, with a backup window on June 23rd at 3:20 a.m.
SpaceX reports that Falcon 9’s first stage, which previously supported a Starlink mission, will return to land at Cape Canaveral’s LZ 1.