Chennai, June 14 (UNI) US Space agency NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are reviewing launch opportunities that would happen not earlier than Thursday, June 19, for the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4 to be piloted by Indian astronaut Subhanshu Shukla, that was deferred due to LOX leak a couple of days back.

In an update on Saturday, NASA said on June 12 (June 11 in India), NASA and Axiom Space had delayed the mission as the agency continued to work with Roscosmos to understand the most

recent repair efforts to seal small leaks.

The leaks, located in the aft (back) most segment of the International Space Station’s Zvezda

service module, have been monitored by flight controllers for the past few years.

Following the most-recent repair, pressure in the transfer tunnel has been stable.

Previously, pressure in this area would have dropped. This could indicate the small leaks have

been sealed.

Teams are also considering the stable pressure could be the result of a small amount of air flowing into the transfer tunnel across the hatch seal from the main part of space station.

By changing pressure in the transfer tunnel and monitoring over time, teams are evaluating the condition of the transfer tunnel and the hatch seal between the space station and the back of

Zvezda.

It is not uncommon for the agency and its international partners to adjust launches around changes

in operations aboard the space station.

Teams are making progress evaluating the transfer tunnel configuration, resulting in an updated launch opportunity for the private astronaut mission.

In addition, SpaceX teams have repaired a liquid oxygen leak identified during post-static fire

Falcon-9 rocket inspections.

Following the repairs, the company completed a wet dress rehearsal of the Falcon 9, NASA said.

Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and Director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

The crew will lift off aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A

at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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