Axiom Mission 4 finally set for launch June 25

Fifth and final Crew Dragon ready for first flight to the ISS tomorrow

NASA has a launch date for Axiom Mission 4. The much-delayed private astronaut expedition is now targeting for liftoff on Wednesday, June 25.

After scrubs due to weather and a leaky SpaceX Falcon 9, NASA opted to shift the mission to June 19 to evaluate the result of repairs to leaks in the Russian segment of the orbiting laboratory.

A launch date of June 22 was set, but the US space agency announced on June 19 that it was standing down to continue evaluating International Space Station (ISS) operations following the latest repair attempts in the aft segment of the outpost's Zvezda module.

The US space agency said, "Because of the space station's interconnected and interdependent systems, NASA wants to ensure the station is ready for additional crew members, and the agency is taking the time necessary to review data."

Controversy hit the mission from the start. The Crew Dragon capsule originally planned for Axiom 4 ended up being used for Crew-10 due to issues qualifying the capsule, which is the fifth and final vehicle to be built by SpaceX. The swap meant a delay for Axiom 4 but also an earlier return to Earth for the crew of the Boeing Starliner, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

The delays then carried on, first thanks to weather issues and problems with the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, and more recently due to concerns over air leaks and cracks in the venerable ISS itself. Observers, including SpaceX supremo Elon Musk, have warned of the risks of keeping the ISS running with its issues, and some are calling for the agency to de-orbit the complex sooner rather than later.

With less than 24 hours to go before the next launch opportunity, there is a very good chance that the crew, consisting of former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in command, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla as pilot and mission specialists ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary, will finally get off the ground.

Docking with the ISS is planned for just over a day after the scheduled launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ®