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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday announced that the Ax-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), carrying Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, is now scheduled for launch on June 19, 2025.
The mission had been deferred following the detection of a pressure anomaly in the Zvezda Service Module aboard the ISS and a liquid oxygen leak in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle during pre-flight validation tests. Technical teams have since addressed both concerns.
According to an official statement, ISRO confirmed that the liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon 9 booster was successfully rectified following a joint coordination meeting involving SpaceX, Axiom Space, and ISRO. The launch vehicle is now deemed flight-ready.
In parallel, Axiom Space stated that it is working in close collaboration with NASA to monitor and assess the pressure irregularities within the Russian-built Zvezda module to ensure continued integrity of the station’s environmental systems.
Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh shared an update via X, reiterating that “all technical issues that led to the postponement of the mission have been duly addressed,” and confirmed the revised launch date.
The Ax-4 mission marks a milestone for Indian human spaceflight. Shukla will be the first Indian astronaut to fly to the ISS and only the second Indian in space since Rakesh Sharma’s orbital flight aboard Soyuz T-11 in 1984.
Shukla will serve as the pilot of the mission, led by veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. The international crew also includes mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, highlighting the mission’s global scientific collaboration.