Ax-4 mission, with Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, may get delayed

BENGALURU: The launch of the Axiom-4 mission (Ax-4), which will be piloted by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, may be delayed due to a “minor” technical glitch.On April 29, Axiom Space and Nasa space operations had announced that Ax-4 will lift off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 1:03 pm Eastern Time Zone or around 10.33pm IST, on May 29. On Tuesday, Isro chairman V Narayanan, while talking about Ax-4, had indicated that the launch would be in the first week of June. His remark was made in the passing while introducing the mission at a conference and was not followed by any specific comments.When TOI checked to confirm if there was a delay, and what caused it, a source said: “There is a glitch that has been classified as ‘minor’ but the launch is still being targeted for May 29. At this juncture, there is nothing really ‘concerning’.”An Axiom spokesperson said: “We are targeting May 29. Nasa and SpaceX will provide information if there are any changes.”Ax-4 will lift off aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, a reusable space capsule designed for human spaceflight, which will be launched by the Falcon-9 launch vehicle — SpaceX’s workhorse known for its reusable first stage.Narayanan, had expressed “full confidence” in both the launch vehicle, which he described as one of the “most reliable”, and the spacecraft.The Ax-4 crew — Shukla, US’s Peggy Whitson, the mission commander, Polish astronaut from European Space Agency (ESA) Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu — will spend up to 14 days at the orbiting laboratory.Shukla will be the first Indian astronaut to go to the ISS, and only the second Indian astronaut after Wing Commander (retd) Rakesh Sharma to go to space. Sharma went to space on a Soviet mission aboard Soyuz T-11, in April 1984.As reported by TOI earlier, Shukla will conduct seven experiments at ISS, which will help nurture a microgravity research ecosystem within India, potentially leading to more advanced space experiments across various disciplines in the future. The carefully selected experiments represent diverse scientific fields from leading Indian research institutions and have been chosen to advance knowledge in human health, agriculture, biotechnology, and physical sciences under microgravity conditions.