Axiom-4 gets new launch date after series of delays, here are the details

The American human spaceflight mission Axiom-4 is targeting liftoff at 12:01 pm Indian time, Wednesday, June 25, NASA announced on social media. This will mark the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. After lifting off from the launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, the Falcon 9 rocket will be hurling the astronaut-carrying Crew Dragon capsule to space, following which the capsule will require about 28 hours to rendezvous with the Space Station, and perform the docking. Targeted docking time is around 4:30 pm IST on Thursday, June 26, NASA said.

The 28-hour period is required for docking, as the Crew Dragon spacecraft must adjust its orbit to match that of the International Space Station, while both are travelling at speeds of 28,000 kmph or more. A spacecraft launched from Earth does not travel in a straight line to reach the Space Station. Instead, the craft is launched into an orbit that is at a lower altitude than the space station, following which it has to make precise trajectory adjustments to match its own path to the circular path in which the Space Station is doing so - eventually, both circles (orbits) have to intersect. The 28-hour approaches are fuel-efficient, offer more time for astronauts and ground teams to carry out system checks, monitor all systems. While faster dockings (in about six hours) are possible, they consume more fuel and complicate the overall mission planning.

Axiom-4 and the series of delays

The Axiom-4 mission carrying four astronauts was scheduled for liftoff on May 29, but repeated delays have pushed the launch well into the last week of June.

Originally targeted for May 29 launch, it was pushed to June 8, June 9, June 10, June 11, June 19, June 22. Notably, June 22nd was the 7thlaunch date for this mission, and it turns out it is not even "7th time lucky" for Axiom-4 and its crew.

So far, this mission has been delayed owing to- replacement of parts on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Spacecraft, technical issues with a Falcon 9 rocket engine, unfavourable weather, a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon 9 rocket, and an anomaly in the Russian Zvezda module on the International Space Station.

In the first week of June, WION had reported about the 18-member Indian delegation that had travelled to Florida ahead of the Axiom-4 launch that will see India's Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla fly to space, and make history as the second Indian to undertake human spaceflight. The delegation was led by ISRO Chief Dr. V. Narayanan. However, owing to the repeated delays, the ISRO Chief and few members of the delegation returned to India this week. Remaining members of the Indian delegation continue to stay in Florida, USA, in anticipation of the launch.

Axiom-4 crew to complete a month in quarantine

The Axiom-4 crew went into pre-launch mandatory quarantine on May 26.Pre-launch quarantine is followed to closely monitor the astronauts' health, to avoid exposure to any last-minute illness. Quarantine is also important to ensure that the astronauts flying to the space station don't carry any infection to the closed environment of the orbiting lab. With the launch date now uncertain, it seems that the crew would end up spending a month or more in quarantine

Typical pre-launch quarantines for International Space Station crew last two weeks. The Axiom-4 crew will end up spending double that period in quarantine, which translates to a month in quarantine. In mid-2024, Boeing Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore also had to spend about a month in quarantine due to repeated delays with their launch.

In preparation for spaceflight, astronauts have to maintain peak mental and physical health. A mission delay would mean that they must sustain that peak for a longer period of time.

Axiom-4 must launch this week or wait till mid-July

"In terms of launch opportunities, we have opportunities all the way to June 30," Dana Weigel, Manager, International Space Station Programme, NASA, had said earlier this month. Typically, every rocket launch mission has a launch window/launch opportunity- an ideal period of a few days or weeks within which the launch can take place. On each of these specific days within the launch window, there are a few minutes when the rocket can blastoff to space. All of these launch times are precisely planned down to the second, based on various technical parameters. Which is why many rocket launch missions happen at odd hours, and no two missions(even of the same type) follow the same launch time or schedule. In case SpaceX and Axiom Space are unable to launch in the month of June, there are opportunities from mid-July, she added.

About Axiom-4 and its astronauts

Axiom-4 will carry a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station, where they would stay for two weeks and perform 60 experiments. The astronauts would be flying on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon capsule.Peggy Whitson, America's seniormost astronaut and director of human spaceflight atAxiomSpace, will command theAxiom-4 mission. while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot or second-in-command. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. Apart from Peggy, all those aboard this mission are first-time astronauts. Therefore, the impact of these delays on the first-timers astronauts' families must also be factored in.

This Axiom-4 mission will facilitate the return to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, given that each nation’s first and only government-sponsored spaceflight had taken place more than 40 years ago.

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will be the first Indian to fly to the International Space Station, and the second Indian to fly to space after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who flew on a Soviet Mission in 1984. The Indian Government has paid almost $64 million (Rs.550crore) for Shukla's training and spaceflight as part of Axiom-4. As he circles the earth, Shukla will also be performing experiments in STEM(Science, Tech, Engineering, Math), and these will be made available as recorded educational videos, as part of the Axiom-4 mission outreach activity.