What was meant to be a historic 14-day manned mission under Axiom-4 (Ax-4) has now been indefinitely postponed — and not just due to weather or a leaky oxygen cylinder.
NASA recently detected an alarming increase in an air leak in the Zvezda service module aboard the International Space Station (ISS). ISRO, working closely with NASA, confirmed this as a key factor behind the delays that have plagued the mission since its original May 29 launch date.
Originally rescheduled to June 8 due to electrical harness concerns in the Crew Dragon module, the mission was pushed again to June 9 over Falcon-9 vehicle readiness issues. Later, an actuator anomaly further delayed proceedings, prompting ISRO to recommend in-situ repairs and rigorous low-temperature leak tests.
ISRO Chairman V Narayanan emphasized, “Astronaut safety and mission integrity are non-negotiable.” NASA, in coordination with Russia’s Roscosmos, is currently assessing the leak’s pressure impact on the ISS.
The Zvezda module, launched in 2000, has seen a worsening leak — rising from 0.45 kg/day in 2019 to 1.67 kg/day in 2024. Discrepancies between NASA and Roscosmos figures have added to the complications.
India’s Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla was to lead the Ax-4 mission aboard Crew Dragon C213. For now, liftoff will wait for green signals from all sides.
