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.