First Indo-US space mission delayed by 6 months

MUMBAI: The launch of the first Indo-US joint mission to international space station (

ISS

) with

Shubanshu Shukla

from India as the pilot has been deferred to

March-April 2025

from Oct-Nov 2024.
Isro is not responsible for the delay in the mission’s launch from Kennedy Space Centre.
“The Ax-4 crew members are awaiting approval from multilateral crew operations panel to fly to ISS orbiting laboratory,’’ Nasa posted on X, explaining the delay.

The panel regulates ISS tours.
Shukla, with three international crew members, was scheduled to fly private Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission. Axiom Space operates private missions to ISS in collaboration with Nasa and other space agencies.

The mission members, comprising commander Peggy Whitson, Polish astronaut Slawosz Uznanski, and Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu, besides Shukla, began training in August at Houston.
India and the US announced the mission in a joint statement on June 22, 2023, after PM Narendra Modi met President Joe Biden. On August 3, 2024, Shukla was named the prime crew member, with Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair as a backup. Both are part of Gaganyaan mission.
Earlier, the return of Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague Barry Wilmore from ISS was

delayed

due to technical glitches in Starliner spacecraft.