Shuks To Fly To ISS On June 19

The rocket flight was aborted in order to plug the liquid oxygen leak identified during post-static fire Falcon 9 rocket inspections.

IMAGE: Axiom-4 Astronauts Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Mission Specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are pictured on the countdown video clock as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Launch Complex 39-A after a delay of its mission to the International Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, June 9, 2025. Photograph: Steve Nesius/Reuters

With the leaks in billionaire Elon Musk SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and on the International Space Station Zvezda Russian service module, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is expected to fly to the ISS on Thursday, June 19, said the Indian Space Research Organisation.

The SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon spacecraft carrying Commander Peggy Whitson, Mission Pilot Shukla (call sign Shuks), Mission Specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu of Hungary was supposed to fly to the ISS on June 11.

The flight was known as Axiom Mission 4 or Ax-4 Mission managed by the US company Axiom Space.

The rocket flight was aborted in order to plug the liquid oxygen leak identified during post-static fire Falcon 9 rocket inspections.

Subsequently it was found there was a leak in the ISS Zvezda, the Russian service module. Later this leak was also plugged, according to a news report quoting Russian space agency Roscosmos.

ISRO said 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.

'Separately, Axiom Space informed that they are working closely with NASA (the US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to assess the pressure anomaly in the Zvezda service ,odule onboard the International Space Station.

'Axiom Space is now targeting June 19, 2025 for the launch of the Ax-04 mission,' ISRO said.

IMAGE: The Falcon 9 rocket stands at the launch pad before the upcoming launch of the Axiom-4. Photograph: Steve Nesius/Reuters

The liquid oxygen leak was found in the Falcon 9 rocket's booster stage.

SpaceX's Vice President-Build and Flight Reliability William Gerstenmaier had told the media earlier that company officials had detected a liquid oxygen leak in the rocket booster and in the steering systems of the fifth engine.

According to Gerstenmaier, the liquid oxygen leak was seen on the booster during its entry on its last mission. The company reuses its booster to save on costs.

The rocket uses rocket grade kerosene as fuel and super cooled liquid oxygen as oxidiser.

Gerstenmaier had said the leak was not repaired when the booster was refurbished for the next flight or the leak was not detected then.

According to SpaceX, the Ax-4 mission will be the second flight for the first stage booster. It was previously used for the Starlink mission.

That apart, the SpaceX team also found an issue with the Thrust Vector Control (TVC) systems in the fifth engine in the booster. The first stage booster has nine engines.

"Leaks in a liquid propulsion system are typical. Even after testing, such observation could happen due to nano particles settling at valve seats or something like that," a senior ISRO official told this correspondent earlier.

"The solution is to replace, clean up, retest and proceed. It requires time and facility support. There is nothing to worry about if corrected," the ISRO official had said.

Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff