The launch of the Ax-4 mission—a milestone flight that would have carried the first Hungarian, Indian, and Polish astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS)—was postponed shortly before liftoff on Wednesday due to a technical issue, SpaceX confirmed.
During final checks, engineers discovered a liquid oxygen leak on the Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX stated that a new launch date will be announced once the issue has been resolved.
The four-person crew for the Ax-4 mission includes Tibor Kapu of Hungary, Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Peggy Whitson, a veteran NASA astronaut who has previously flown multiple missions. The launch was scheduled for 8am local time (2pm CET) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule atop the Falcon 9.
For Kapu, Shukla, and Uznanski-Wisniewski, this would have been their first journey into space, and the first time citizens of their respective countries would reach the ISS. Although astronauts from these nations have flown before—primarily via Soviet Soyuz missions in the 1970s and 1980s—none had previously visited the space station.
The Ax-4 mission, organized by Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA and SpaceX, marks the company’s fourth commercial mission to the ISS. Axiom launched its first private spaceflight in 2022 and has steadily expanded its presence in the commercial space industry. The company’s previous mission, Ax-3, was its longest yet, lasting nearly three weeks.
The Ax-4 crew is expected to spend around two weeks on the space station once the launch proceeds.
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