Private mission to ISS delayed by air leak in Russian module, SpaceX rocket repair

NASA has delayed the launch of four crew members on a privately funded mission to the International Space Station until further notice due to an air leak in one of the orbiting lab’s Russian modules

NASA has delayed the launch of four crew members on a privately funded mission to the International Space Station until further notice due to an air leak in one of the orbiting lab’s Russian modules.

The flight, organized by Houston-based company Axiom Space, was already postponed earlier this week after SpaceX engineers discovered a fuel leak on the Falcon 9 rocket that was to carry the foursome into low-Earth orbit.

The mission was scheduled to lift off Wednesday morning from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A new targeted launch date has not yet been announced.

NASA said there is an ongoing investigation into the air leak in the Russian-built Zvezda service module. The agency said it is working with Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, to “understand a new pressure signature” after recent repair work was completed in a rear section of the module.

“Cosmonauts aboard the space station recently performed inspections of the pressurized module’s interior surfaces, sealed some additional areas of interest, and measured the current leak rate,” NASA officials said in a statement. “Following this effort, the segment now is holding pressure.”