KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Florida’s Space Coast, initially planned for this past weekend, has been postponed.
NASA and Axiom Space announced on Thursday that the launch of Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station has been postponed as part of an ongoing investigation. NASA said it is working with Roscosmos to understand a new pressure signature after the recent post-repair effort on the space station’s Zvezda service module.
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A new launch date for the fourth private astronaut mission will be provided once available, NASA said.
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The Ax-4 mission was originally scheduled for Sunday, June 8, before being moved a couple of other times.
U.S. Astronaut Peggy Whitson will command the mission. Joining her will be pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
Axiom Space officials say the launch marks a milestone, as the first government-sponsored flight for astronauts from Indian, Poland and Hungary in more than 40 years. It will also be the second human spaceflight mission for each of these countries.
The Ax-4 crew will conduct research for 60 scientific studies and activities, including cancer treatments, gut microbiology and bone health.
To learn more about the mission, head to the Axiom Space website.
Whenever the launch happens, News 6 and ClickOrlando.com will stream the launch live.
NASA, Axiom Space and SpaceX are aiming for launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4. This shift allows teams to account for predicted inclement weather during the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft transport in addition to completing final processing of the spacecraft ahead of launch.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
The crew will lift off aboard Dragon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
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