From left to right: Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland (ESA), former Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla of ISRO (India), and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. (Image: PTI)
TITUSVILLE: As SpaceX prepares for the Ax-4 mission on the revised launch date of June 11, launch weather remains a key variable with all partners — Axiom Space, SpaceX and Nasa — continuously monitoring conditions. At the mission readiness review briefing Monday (June 9) evening, Jimmy Taeger, Launch Weather Officer with the 45th Weather Squadron of the US Space Force, said conditions across Central Florida are currently influenced by a surface high-pressure system to the southeast. This system is expected to drift northward over the coming days, changing wind patterns and raising the likelihood of isolated showers.“The ‘probability violation’ was lowered for tomorrow’s (June 10) initial attempt,” Taeger said, referring to weather constraints that could force a scrub. “But for the next attempt on Wednesday (June 11), the ‘probability violation’ does increase a bit—about 20%. The backup opportunity (June 12) has a slightly higher chance, around 25%.”While wind conditions are projected to improve mid-week, forecasters are keeping a close eye on the risk of passing showers, especially as launch windows approach.“Even though winds are going to be improving—Wednesday looks better, and Thursday even better than Wednesday—the one thing we are going to be watching closely is the possibility of showers moving into the area,” Taeger added.As of late Monday, Axiom and SpaceX said they are targeting a 8am Eastern Time (5.30pm IST) launch on June 11. Snags on Falcon being fixedA SpaceX representative said the firm has resolved a set of technical snags uncovered during pre-launch checks for the Ax-4 mission. William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX Vice President of Build and Flight Reliability, stressed on the company’s continued focus on safety and precision, noting that “space flight is really hard, and we’re learning every day.”During a static fire test of the Falcon-9, SpaceX engineers discovered a liquid oxygen (LOX) leak that had initially gone undetected during the booster’s post-flight refurbishment. The issue dated back to the booster’s previous Starlink mission. “We discovered that we had not fully repaired the booster… we’re installing a purge that will essentially mitigate the leak if it continues,” he said.In addition, a thrust vector control issue with engine five was also identified. The affected components have since been replaced, and all work is expected to be completed by the evening before launch.“The dry dress rehearsal was very successful,” Gerstenmaier noted, referring to the full-scale simulation of launch day activities conducted by the crew and support teams.New, improved dragon Speaking about the new Dragon capsule, he said it comes with a set of enhancements over previous versions. These include, refined food processing and storage systems; a reworked stair lash retention mechanism and upgraded propulsion components to improve reliability and reusability.“So this isn’t just the same Dragon. We’ve actually made some improvements and made it better to continue flying safely,” he said. The Ax-4 launch marks the debut flight of this particular Dragon spacecraft and the second flight for the Falcon-9 booster being used. “I can’t think of a better way for this capsule to enter the fleet than by flying this international crew,” Gerstenmaier said.So far in 2025, SpaceX has completed three Dragon missions—two of which were crewed—within a tight 38-day window. “While we were working on those, the teams were also preparing for Axiom-4,” Gerstenmaier said, emphasising the company’s expanding launch tempo.
