SpaceX, NASA delay launch of crewed Axiom Space mission again

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Jun 20, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

SpaceX had reset the countdown clock for its next human spaceflight, but a NASA decision has forced another delay of the private Axiom Space Ax-4 mission to the International Space Station.

NASA stated it needed more time to evaluate a recent repair to a years-old leak to the Russian side of the station.

“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,” NASA stated in a Thursday update.

So what had been a planned early Sunday morning launch was called off with NASA stating a new launch target will be made in the coming days.

Launch opportunities run daily through June 30 for a Falcon 9 rocket topped with a new Crew Dragon capsule launch from Kennedy Space Center and take four private astronauts to space.

The mission would be the fourth trip to the station for Axiom Space and second commanded by former NASA astronaut and current Axiom employee Peggy Whitson. This would be her fifth trip to space including her NASA missions, which so far have totaled more than 675 days in space.

She’s leading three customers from three nations that have not sent an astronaut to space in more than four decades. Taking the role of pilot is India’s Shubhanshu Shukla while Sławosz Uznański of Poland, a European Space Agency project astronaut, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are mission specialists.

The quartet plan to spend about two weeks on board the space station performing more than 60 experiments, including some partnered with NASA.

“NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX appreciate the historic nature of this mission for the nations of India, Poland, and Hungary, as well as the world.” NASA stated. “The crew remains in quarantine in Florida, and the astronauts stand ready to launch when the station is ready to receive them.”

SpaceX and Axiom Space had already seen their launch attempts called off last week because of weather and then repairs to the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster. Then NASA announced it was halting the launch to monitor the repairs space station partner Roscosmos did to its Zvezda service module.

The private missions to the station are part of Axiom Space’s long-term plans to build out their own space station.

The mission was originally targeting a 2024 launch but has faced a series of delays including having to give up its originally planned ride, the Crew Dragon Endurance, to NASA’s Crew-10 mission that flew in March.

The tradeoff is the Ax-4 crew will fly on SpaceX’s fifth, and what’s planned to be its final, Crew Dragon capsule. That gives them the traditional honor of naming it once it reaches orbit.

Since its first human spaceflight in 2020, SpaceX has flown its four other Crew Dragon spacecraft 17 times carrying 64 humans to space.

--------------