Exclusive - 'Would Not Have Allowed Axiom Launch If Issues Weren't Fixed': ISRO Chief

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned to Earth after spending 18 days at the International Space Station. He became the second Indian after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma to go to space since 1984 and the first Indian to go to the space station.

But the Axiom-4 mission, of which Group Captain Shukla was a part, faced multiple delays before its liftoff. One of the delays was due to a crack in one of the liquid oxygen lines, which was identified after ISRO - led by Dr V Narayanan - insisted on due diligence, a step that averted a major space disaster. The ISRO chief spoke to NDTV and said the Indian space agency would not have allowed the launch of the mission if the SpaceX team had not rectified the problem in the Falcon-9 rocket.

How ISRO Averted A Space Disaster

On June 10, a day before the scheduled lift-off, a liquid oxygen leak (LOX) was identified on the booster of the Falcon-9 rocket, but it was not fully repaired during refurbishment. Despite the leak, the SpaceX team decided to launch the ailing rocket, with four astronauts, including Shubhanshu Shukla, to space, but ISRO became aware of it and decided to put its foot down to ensure full correction.

NDTV was the first to report that there was a leak on the Falcon-9 rocket, which was tasked to carry the four astronauts - Peggy Whitson from the US, Shubhanshu Shukla from India, Slawosz Uzananski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.

Read more: NDTV Exclusive: Close Call For Musk's SpaceX Rocket: How ISRO Helped Avert Space Disaster

Today, Dr Narayanan told NDTV, "The safety of Gaganyatri and the other three astronauts is a primary thing. We told them to correct the rocket, and only then will we authorise it. There were a lot of differences in our opinions. Based on our insistence, the launch was called off. After that, they located the leak point, and it was a crack, and everything was corrected. Because of that, it was a successful mission and we (ISRO) had a successful liftoff of the Falcon rocket; otherwise, there would have been a severe problem."

"Based on the Indian education system, Indian knowledge and the ISRO team, we stopped and insisted on correction and as a team, finally it was corrected, and we ensured the safe liftoff," the ISRO chief said.

The ISRO chief made a revelation in his interview with NDTV that the Indian space agency decided to put its foot down and said that if the problems are not fixed, it will not allow give its go-ahead to the mission because the "safety of astronauts is the primary thing".

#NDTVExclusive | ISRO Chief V Narayanan said that they would have pulled out #ShubhanshuShukla from the mission if the cracks in the fuel tanks were not fixed prior to the liftoff @vishnundtv pic.twitter.com/RYyDsNypbx

— NDTV (@ndtv) July 15, 2025

A highly qualified 13-member ISRO team, stationed at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, was not convinced by the "band-aid-like" solution of a 'purge' offered by SpaceX on the oxidiser line leak.

The ISRO chief is a top expert on liquid engines and was part of the team that helped India build a cryogenic engine. He is aware of the risks of a liquid oxygen leak.

The cracked portion was replaced after Dr Narayanan's insistence, and adequate tests were carried out on the health of the repaired system.

Earlier, ISRO said, "During a follow-on coordination meeting between ISRO, Axiom Space, and SpaceX, it was confirmed that the liquid oxygen leak observed in the Falcon 9 launch vehicle has been successfully resolved."

'Working Hard To Make Gaganyaan Program A Success'

The ISRO chief said that Shubhanshu Shukla is a Gaganyaatri (Indian astronaut) and part of the Gaganyaan mission - India's crewed flight to space.

The team at ISRO is elated to see their colleague return from space after conducting several experiments at the ISS. The agency's chief said, "We are all working hard to make the Gaganyaan mission a success."

"The Gaganyaan program was approved by Prime Minister Modi in 2018, and this development involves a lot of things. We have to make a human-rated launch vehicle, the orbital module, crew escape system, environmental control system, parachutes, the entire mission management, and the recovery studies," he said.

The ISRO chief said they consulted Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma for the mission. In 2023, the Prime Minister felt the need to send one of the four Gaganyaatri to the space station, and then ISRO signed an MoU with NASA.