Axiom-4 mission put off as SpaceX detects leak in Falcon-9 rocket
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New Delhi (PTI): The Axiom-4 mission, which was scheduled to carry Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station on Tuesday, was put off again to fix a leak in the SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket.
SpaceX announced that it was "standing down" from the Falcon-9 launch to allow time for repairs after a post-static inspection of the rocket's boosters identified a liquid oxygen leak.
"Once complete and pending Range availability, we will share a new launch date," SpaceX said in an X post.
ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said the liquid oxygen leak was detected in the propulsion bay during a seven-second hot test on the launch pad. The hot test was to validate the performance of the booster stage of Falcon-9 launch vehicle.
"The ISRO team discussed with experts at Axiom and SpaceX and it was decided that the leak would be fixed and necessary validation tests conducted before clearing for the launch,” Narayanan said.
Hence, the Axiom-4 launch slated on June 11, 2025 to send the first Indian Gaganyatri to the International Space Station stands postponed, the ISRO chairman said.
Axiom Space spokesperson said that during the post-static fire investigation of the Falcon-9 booster that supports the Axiom-4 mission, SpaceX teams identified a liquid oxygen leak that requires additional work.
"SpaceX continues to work closely with Axiom Space and partners," Axiom Space said in a statement.
Commander Peggy Whitson, pilot Shukla and specialists Tigor Kapu of Hungary and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland were slated to embark up on the Axiom-4 mission.
The 14-day mission will "realise the return" to human spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary.
The Axiom-4 mission was originally scheduled for launch on May 29. It was first postponed to June 8 and later to June 10.
On June 10, the launch was postponed by a day due to bad weather in the flight path.
Addressing a pre-launch press conference on Monday, SpaceX Vice President William Gerstenmaier said that engineers had fixed some snags in the Falcon-9 rocket that were discovered during the static fire test and had gone unnoticed during the post-flight refurbishment of boosters.
Gerstenmaier said that engineers had discovered a locks leak that was previously seen on the booster during its entry on the last mission and was not fully repaired during the refurbishment.
"We are continuing to troubleshoot that. We should get that completed today and we will have that back in configuration. We are installing a purge that will essentially mitigate the leak if it still continues... on the launch day," he had said.
Gerstenmaier said engineers had also discovered an engine 5 thrust vector control problem and the components associated with that have already been changed.
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ED attaches fresh assets in PMLA case against Reliance Group; total attachment over Rs 10K cr
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has attached fresh assets worth Rs 1,120 crore as part of its money laundering probe against the companies of Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani, officials said.
Eighteen properties, including the Reliance Centre in Mumbai's Ballard Estate, fixed deposits, bank balance and shareholding in unqouted investments of Reliance Anil Ambani Group have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
Another set of seven properties of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, two properties of Reliance Power Ltd, nine properties of Reliance Value Service Private Ltd, fixed deposits in the name of Reliance Value Service Private Ltd, Reliance Venture Asset Management Private Lt, Phi Management Solutions Private Ltd, Adhar Property Consultancy Pvt Ltd, Gamesa Investment Management Private Ltd and investments made in unquoted investment by Reliance Venture Asset Management Private Ltd and Phi Management Solutions Private Ltd have also been attached, they said.
The ED had earlier attached properties worth over Rs 8,997 crore in the bank fraud cases related to Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd, and Reliance Home Finance Ltd.
The total attachment in the case against the Reliance Group is now Rs 10,117 crore.
