Countdown Cancelled: ISRO Astronauts Head Home as Ax-4 Launch Grounded Indefinitely

NASA's highly anticipated Axiom-4 (Ax-4) space mission to be launched on June 22 has been placed on hold indefinitely, following a stand down ordered by NASA on the basis of the ongoing safety checks on board the International Space Station (ISS).

 

The mission, part of a collaborative effort involving NASA, ISRO, Axiom Space, and the European Space Agency (ESA), was to carry an international crew of four including Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair of India aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the ISS.

 

NASA indicated that it required additional time to inspect recent maintenance on the Zvezda service module, a critical Russian segment of the ISS. Since the station systems are interconnected, the agency emphasized the importance of ensuring that all systems are go before welcoming new crew members.

 

Therefore, ISRO decided to recall its astronaut crew from Florida, where they were on final preparations. Though there are reports that the astronauts remain on standby in the U.S., ISRO sources confirmed that the support crew is returning to India as the mission awaits a revised schedule.

 

The Ax-4 mission has faced a series of delays ever since its original May 29 target, including technical issues with the spacecraft, interference from weather, to more recent problems with an oxygen leak and actuator anomalies during pre-launch tests.

 

However, ISRO officials have assured that India's Gaganyaan mission will not be impacted by the delay, with it still scheduled for a future launch.

 

Sources: Business Standard, India Today, Moneycontrol, The New Indian Express, MSN News