SpaceX has cancelled its scheduled Wednesday morning start attempt to handle liquid oxygen leaks in the rocket booster.
“We will be halting tomorrow’s Falcon 9 AX-4 launch to @Space_Station to allow additional time for the SpaceX team to repair LOX leaks identified during static fire booster inspections,” SpaceX posted late Tuesday. “When done, and pending range availability – share new release dates.”
The AX-4 mission was aiming for a lift-off at 8am with weather concerns that could delay flights, but ultimately hardware issues became those controversy. Currently, Axiom Space employees and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson are ordering crews of customers paid by the Polish government through the European Space Agency through Poland.
“The true heart of SpaceX’s ultimate mission and flying crew is always our number one priority,” SpaceX’s William Gerstenmaier, vice president of reliability at Build and Flight, discussed how she first spotted the leak at a press conference on Monday. “SpaceFlight is really difficult. We learn every day. The more you fly, the more you learn.”
He said SpaceX first detected a leak during a flight before the booster. This was his debut in late April.
“The booster had not been completely repaired during the renovation or we actually found no leaks, but they weren’t fixed,” he said.
At the time, he was sure SpaceX was ready for Wednesday’s attempt.
“We went out to the launch pad. We’re continuing to troubleshoot it. We need to complete it (Monday), and we’ll bring it back to the configuration,” he said. “We have installed a purge that basically mitigates the leak if we see it on the release date and it is still going on.
Ultimately, SpaceX chose to hold back the third human SpaceFlight Mission of the Year after the launch of its crew 10 missions to the space station and polar orbital mission FRAM2.
“I think this indicates the difficulties in preparing. You can always prepare, but it’s very important to do tests, do dry runs, do activities with the crew and make sure you’re really ready, as we always learn something,” he said.
Dana Weigel, NASA’s International Space Station Program Manager, said this week’s delay shouldn’t cause much trouble.
“We started the opportunity all the way through June 30th,” she said, then took a break until about the second week of July. “So these people have a lot of opportunities to fly.”
The mission aims to spend about two weeks on board before docking at the station the day after its launch and returning for a splashdown off the California coast.
This is the fourth trip of axiom space to the station and the second trip for company Whitson. The AX-4 is overall the fifth trip to space, and she will be added to the universe for over 675 days in the universe she is already experiencing in her career. It is the most for any American in history for women.
The three clients are India’s Shuvanshushukra and take on the role of pilots, while Hungary’s Tiborkap and Poland’s Swazosouznasky Winnier Whiskey are mission specialists. None of these countries have allowed astronauts to fly into space for over 40 years.
Original issue: June 10th, 2025, 9:26pm EDT
