Axiom-4 Mission Put Off as SpaceX Detects Leak in Falcon-9 Rocket

New Delhi: Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others, has been put off for the time being as engineers sought more time to repair a leak in the SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket. SpaceX announced that it was "standing down" from the Falcon-9 launch of the Axiom-4 mission to allow repairs of the liquid oxygen leak identified during the post-static booster inspections.

"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," SpaceX said in a post on X.

"Once 'complete and pending Range availability' we will share a new launch date," SpaceX said.