The Axiom-4 mission, which will carry Indian astronaut and three others to the International Space Station, will fly no earlier than June 8, NASA has said in a recent statement.
The exact date of the launch has still not been announced though the countdown on the Axiom’s website also indicates June 8 as the possible date. The mission was earlier scheduled to fly in the last week of May. A few days ago, Indian Space Research Organisation () chairman V Narayanan had said that the mission was expected to be launched in the first week of June.
It is not clear what has delayed the launch of the Axiom-4 mission from its original schedule. In a statement a few days ago, NASA indicated that the rescheduling was caused because of logistical reasons.
“After reviewing the International Space Station (ISS) flight schedule, NASA and its partners are shifting launch opportunities for several upcoming missions. The schedule adjustments provide more time to finalize mission plans, spacecraft readiness, and logistics,” it said.
The dates of two other missions to the ISS have also been affected, NASA said.
The Axiom 4 mission is being operated by private US space company Axiom Space, in partnership with NASA and SpaceX. Apart from Shukla who will be piloting the mission, three other astronauts, one each from the United States, Poland and Hungary, would be travelling to ISS. The Indian participation in this mission is a result of an agreement between ISRO and NASA.
The astronauts will travel in a new Dragon spacecraft built by SpaceX. It will be launched by Falcon 9 rocket, also of SpaceX. There have been some reports that suggest that the rescheduling could be a result of delays in operational readiness of the new Dragon spacecraft.
