SpaceX Ax-4 Launch Set After June 19 Following Propellant Leak Delay

SpaceX's Ax-4 mission in collaboration with NASA and Axiom Space to the International Space Station, which was scheduled to launch on June 12, will now launch no earlier than June 19.

What Happened: "Following the most-recent repair, pressure in the transfer tunnel has been stable. Previously, pressure in this area would have dropped. This could indicate the small leaks have been sealed," a statement shared by Axiom Space said on Saturday.

The statement also shared that SpaceX also fixed a Liquid Oxygen leak in the company's Falcon 9 rocket, following which, the company carried out a successful "wet dress rehearsal."

The mission crew involves Axiom's director of human spaceflight, Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu.

Why It Matters: The launch, which will take flight from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, will carry the four astronauts to the ISS, where they will conduct over 60 experiments in two weeks before coming back down to Earth.

The launch highlights SpaceX's domination in the private space exploration sector, which has led to ARK Invest's Cathie Wood projecting a $2.5 trillion valuation for Elon Musk's company.

However, the same domination has officials from the U.S. Government concerned, since Musk had threatened to withdraw the SpaceX Dragon rocket from NASA missions following the public falling out between him and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking of which, Musk had sounded alarms about the ISS's safety. The billionaire recently called for the Space Station to be de-orbited within the next two years.

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