Decision on new Axiom-4 launch date expected soon
Decision on new Axiom-4 launch date expected soon (Picture credit: ANI)
CAPE CANAVERAL
(FLORIDA):
SpaceX
appears to have fixed the liquid oxygen (
LOX
) leak it detected in
Falcon-9
, and a new date for the launch of the
Axiom-4 mission
is expected to be finalised after a meeting scheduled post midday here (late in India).
At the time of going to press, no formal announcement about a new date was made by SpaceX. But, sources who were part of the two meetings held on June 11 told TOI the final decision would be taken after a test scheduled for June 12. "The test is expected to take a couple of hours and they expect to complete it at least by 2 pm local time here. There will be a meeting soon after the test is complete," a source said around 7 pm IST.
"A final decision on the new launch date is expected to be taken there. As of now, SpaceX is looking at two options, June 13 and June 14, and the weather appears to look OK. However, the weather will also be monitored closely."
No final decision had been made at the time of filing this report. TOI had reported earlier that SpaceX had detected the LOX leak during a static test fire on Sunday (June 8) and made its discovery public late Monday, stating that the issue was being addressed.
Following that, the company said it was "standing down" from the previously decided June 11 launch, to "allow additional time for SpaceX teams to repair the LOX leak identified during post-static fire booster inspections". The final decision on the new launch date will also depend on range availability and weather.
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