Axiom-4 faces another delay, International Space Station leak to blame this time

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“As part of an ongoing investigation, NASA is working with the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, to understand a new pressure signature, after the recent post-repair effort in the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module. Cosmonauts aboard the space station recently performed inspections of the pressurised module’s interior surfaces, sealed some additional areas of interest and measured the current leak rate,” NASA said in a statement.

Following this effort, the segment is now holding pressure.

“The postponement of Axiom Mission 4 provides additional time for NASA and Roscosmos to evaluate the situation and determine whether any additional troubleshooting is necessary. NASA defers to Roscosmos to answer specific questions about the Zvezda module,” the space agency said.

NASA said that a new launch date for the fourth private astronaut mission will be provided once available.

Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

The Zvezda Service Module was the first fully Russian contribution to the International Space Station and served as the early cornerstone for the first human habitation of the station. The module provides station living quarters, life support systems, electrical power distribution, data processing systems, flight control systems and propulsion systems.

The leak in Zvezda was first identified in 2019 and has since been a matter of concern.