A planned spaceflight carrying the first astronauts in decades from India, Poland, and Hungary has been postponed indefinitely due to concerns over a leak on the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA announced Thursday that it will delay accepting the private mission’s arrival while it monitors cabin pressure levels on the Russian segment of the station. Officials emphasized that the current crew of seven astronauts aboard the ISS remain safe and that all other station operations are continuing as usual.
The mission, operated by SpaceX and organized by Axiom Space, was initially scheduled to launch this week for a 14-day visit. However, poor weather and technical issues with the rocket already caused delays. Just as those were being resolved, NASA became aware of a possible pressure anomaly linked to the aging Russian Zvezda module.
The Russian space agency has been dealing with small cracks and air leaks in its ISS compartments for over five years—classified as a “top safety risk” by NASA’s Office of Inspector General. In recent days, cosmonauts aboard the station carried out inspections and repairs inside Zvezda and a connecting passage, sealing certain sections and assessing the leak rate. NASA reported that after this effort, the area is currently maintaining pressure.
This delay offers both NASA and the Russian agency more time to assess whether further action is necessary before receiving visiting crews.
The mission, Axiom Space’s fourth since 2022, was to include four private astronauts, led by retired NASA astronaut and current Axiom mission commander Peggy Whitson. The crew, which includes astronauts representing India, Poland, and Hungary, remains in pre-launch quarantine in Florida.
Axiom Space Executive Chairman Kam Ghaffarian supported the decision, saying, “This is the right thing to do. We will continue working with all our partners to set a new launch date.”
NASA intends to operate the ISS through 2030, with plans to deorbit it afterward and replace it with multiple privately operated space stations. Axiom is one of the companies aiming to take part in that next phase of space exploration.
