KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — After several delays, NASA and Axiom Space now plan to launch the private Axiom Mission 4 on Sunday, June 22. 

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is set to lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 3:42 a.m. EDT. 

Last week, NASA and Axiom Space announced the postponement of Ax-4 because of leaks in the Russian section of the International Space Station.

“NASA and Axiom Space are postponing the launch of Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station. As part of an ongoing investigation, NASA is working with Roscosmos to understand a new pressure signature, after the recent post-repair effort in the aft most segment of the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module,” stated both the U.S. space agency and the Texas-based company in a joint press release.

In the statement, it detailed how cosmonauts were doing inspections of the pressurized module’s interior surfaces and were able to seal some areas of interest while also measuring the leak rate.

“Following this effort, the segment now is 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 two stated.

Spectrum News reached out to both NASA and Axiom Space about why the leak in Zvezda would be an issue since it is not near the Harmony module where the SpaceX Dragon capsule being used for the mission will be docked.

In an email to the media, Cheryl Warner from NASA's communications department stated, "The crew aboard the International Space Station is safely conducting normal operations. We’re assessing this latest update and will provide additional information as available."

Axiom Space has not yet gotten back to Spectrum News with a comment.

This is not the first time NASA has had issues with Roscosmos over leaks on the International Space Station. In November 2024, the two space agencies were at odds over a possible “catastrophic failure” caused by air leaks on the Russian module.

The mission was originally suppose to launch Tuesday, June 10, but high winds forced SpaceX to push the launch to Wednesday.

However, a liquid oxygen leak was discovered during a static fire booster inspection of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which the SpaceX team needed to repair and re-inspect.

The Ax-4 will be the fourth private mission by Axiom Space to send its astronauts to the International Space Station.

Cmdr. Peggy Whitson, pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and mission specialists Tibor Kapu and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski will be onboard the floating laboratory for up to two weeks conducting more than 60 experiments.