New Delhi: NASA has again rescheduled the launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), to no earlier than Sunday, June 22. 

The decision comes as NASA, in collaboration with Axiom Space and SpaceX, continues to evaluate recent repair work conducted in the aft (rear) segment of the ISS’s Russian Zvezda service module.

The launch was to take place from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on June 11 at 8 a.m. (5.30 p.m. IST). It had previously been deferred multiple times from its original launch date of May 29 to June 8, then June 10, June 11 and June 19.

The crew is scheduled to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

ISRO confirmed the revised launch timeline in a statement on the social media platform X, writing: “Teams from @isro, Poland, and Hungary engaged in a detailed discussion with @Axiom_Space regarding the probable launch timeline of Axiom Mission 4. Following this, @Axiom_Space held consultations with @NASA and @SpaceX to assess multiple readiness parameters. Based on the readiness status of the @SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle, the Dragon spacecraft, repairs in the Zvezda module of the @Space_Station, ascent corridor weather conditions, and the health and preparedness of the crew in quarantine, @Axiom_Space has informed that the next probable launch date is 22 June 2025.”

The Ax-4 mission marks another milestone in the growing field of commercial spaceflight, bringing together international collaboration and private sector innovation. The mission will be led by Peggy Whitson, a veteran former NASA astronaut and now Director of Human Spaceflight at Axiom Space. She will serve as the mission commander.

Joining Whitson on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft are three other astronauts: Shubhanshu Shukla, an astronaut from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), who will serve as the mission’s pilot; Sławosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, a Polish project astronaut from the European Space Agency (ESA), and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, both serving as mission specialists.

Once aboard the ISS, Shukla will conduct pioneering experiments related to food and space nutrition. These experiments, developed under a collaboration between ISRO and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), with support from NASA, aim to enhance understanding of sustainable life-support systems, a crucial aspect of future long-duration space travel. (IANS)