Axiom-4 mission carrying Shubhanshu Shukla now eyes June 19 lift-off

Axiom-4 mission to ISS with Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla targeting June 19 launch after delays, ISRO confirms.

The much-delayed Axiom-4 commercial mission to the International Space Station, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others, is now targeting a launch on June 19, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Saturday (June 14, 2025).

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.