On 14 June 2025, Roskosmos announced the completion of an air leak of more than 5 years in the Russian section of the global Space Station. This information, although long awaited, does not close the controversy surrounding the Axis 4 mission in which it is to participate First professional astronaut from Poland – Sławomi Uznański-Wiśniewski. Despite affirmative news from Russian engineers, NASA inactive hasn't confirmed the launch date.and experts point to confusion in the communications.
Leak from Russian module Zwiedda – problem history
According to authoritative data, The first signs of leakage were detected in September 2019And his origin was transitory compartment of service module Zwiedza, located in the Russian part of the station. Over the years repeated sealing testsBut no of them had lasting effect.
Just June 2025, after implementation of the fresh repair method, the force tests carried out showed full halt of air loss – for the first time in over 5 years. As she stated Russian agency Roskosmos, the problem has been completely eliminated, which opens the way to restart manned missions.
Axiom 4 – Superior mission despite problem removal
Ax-4 Mission, in which Sławomi Uznański-Wiśniewski was to participate, was originally to launch June 2025. However, after confirmation of persistent leaks in the Russian ISS segment, NASA has decided to postpone the launch without delay. specified a decision has been announced the day before the scheduled start, despite earlier declarations of rocket and crew readiness.
The current Roskosmos Communication underlines that the station is presently safe and the force level is stable, as confirmed by the tests carried out. The exchange of documentation and method assessments between Roskosmos and NASA is underwaywhich suggests that the decision to resume the mission depends on the joint assessment of the situation by both actors.
New date: June 19, 2025. But is it final?
Hope for an early start restored Communication from the Indian Space Agency (ISRO), which announced on 14 June a fresh scheduled launch date for Axis 4: Wednesday, June 19, 2025. Therefore, all crew members stay in quarantineand logistics preparations for take-off continue.
The fact that Axiom Space launch certificates expire June 22. In the event of a postponement of the mission after that date, it will be essential to re-transmit a complex authorisation process, which may even shift the mission to fall of 2025. Therefore, The starting window between 19 and 22 June is crucial.
Communicative ambiguities and Voices of Skepticism
Doubts about the transparency of communication between space agencies have already arisen. Karol Wójcicki, discipline popularizer and author of the blog “With its head in the stars”, pointed out illogicalness in the course of events.
– If the leak is already patched, why was the Ax-4 launch stopped? If the problem has been known for years and has now been declared solved – why has it abruptly grown to the rank of an obstacle that stopped the manned mission? – asks Wójcicki in his entry.
He besides stresses that preparations for Tuesday's launch were carried out on Mondaywhich may indicate lack of coordination or insufficient transparency of operational decisions. Although no 1 is straight talking about concealing information, the questions about how the ISS partners communicate are getting louder.
What about the mission and the Polish astronaut?
Sławomir Uznański-Wiśniewski, who is to be the second Pole in past in space (after Mirosław Hermaszewski), has already passed complete training in the USA And he's on full alert. Currently, together with the another 3 Ax-4 crew members, he is in an isolation facility.
The decision to launch the mission will depend on NASA and Axiom Space, but the key importance is besides ISS stableness analysis after repair. It should besides be remembered that Joint work of NASA and Roscosmo for the safety of operations requires full consistency of positions, which may be of additional importance in the face of geopolitical tensions.
A Future Perspective
Repairing a long-term leak in the module Zwiedda is undoubtedly engineering success and step towards normalisation of ISS operations. However, the current situation around Ax-4 illustrates how fragile the process of planning manned missions is erstwhile it depends on multilateral cooperation, method details and global logistics.
The next fewer days will be crucial. If the mission will not launch until June 22, the real script will become postponement of the flight of Sławomir Uznański-Wiśniewski by respective months, which could negatively affect the schedules of further commercial and technological missions.
All eyes are on Florida, Houston and Moscow. Poland – for the first time in decades – is waiting with breath for the launch of its astronaut.
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Will Sławomi Uznański-Wiśniewski fly on June 19? fresh information
