A privately chartered space mission carrying the first astronauts in decades from India, Poland, and Hungary has been postponed indefinitely due to concerns about a leak on the International Space Station.
NASA announced Thursday that it will hold off on approving the visit until it can further assess cabin pressure issues on the Russian segment of the ISS. The agency emphasized that the seven astronauts currently aboard remain safe and that station operations are continuing as normal.
The mission, arranged by SpaceX, was originally set to launch this week for a 14-day stay on the ISS. However, weather delays and issues with the rocket pushed the flight back — and the station leak concerns added another complication.
Russia’s space agency has been contending with air leaks and structural cracks on its portion of the ISS for over five years, which NASA’s inspector general has flagged as a major safety risk. While recent repairs were made, NASA detected what it described as a “new pressure signature,” with further details yet to be released.
