Shubhanshu Shukla’s Axiom mission postponed: SpaceX detects LOx leak; Falcon 9 liftoff on hold pending repairs

CAPE CANAVERAL (FLORIDA): SpaceX early Wednesday morning called off the Axiom-4 launch owing to a snag it has been unable to fix in the Falcon-9 rocket. The Elon Musk firm had, earlier on Monday, said that the issue could be fixed before the launch scheduled for 5.30pm on June 11. Late Tuesday night Eastern Time, the firm said: “Standing down from tomorrow’s Falcon-9 launch of Ax-4 to the International Space Station to allow additional time for SpaceX teams to repair the LOX (liquid oxygen) leak identified during post-static fire booster inspections. Once complete – and pending range availability – we will share a new launch.”TOI had reported on June 10 that SpaceX had unresolved technical snags uncovered during pre-static test fire. William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX vice-president of build and flight reliability, had said late Monday that during the static fire test of the Falcon-9, SpaceX engineers discovered a liquid oxygen (LOX) leak that had initially gone undetected during the booster’s post-flight refurbishment. “The issue dated back to the booster’s previous Starlink mission. We discovered that we had not fully repaired the booster… we’re installing a purge that will essentially mitigate the leak if it continues,” he said.In addition, a thrust vector control issue with engine five was also identified. The affected components have since been replaced, and he had said that all work was expected to be completed by the evening before launch.Gerstenmaier had stressed on the company’s continued focus on safety and precision, noting that “space flight is really hard, and we’re learning every day.” The dry dress rehearsal, he said, was very successful.