In space programme, India has made history in many ways, earlier. Another feather added to It's crown! Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force is all set to become the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station. The mission is scheduled to launch from Florida in USA.
He has been assigned as the pilot for Axiom Mission 4, part of a collaborative initiative between NASA and ISRO. It marks an all new chapter in India's space mission journey. NASA has announced that the launch is slated for "no earlier than spring 2025."
Captain Shubhanshu Shukla expressed his eagerness to share his experience with fellow Indians. He plans to carry items symbolizing India on his journey and even hopes to perform yoga poses aboard the space station.
Born on October 10, 1985, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Captain Shukla has already established himself as a distinguished IAF pilot. Commissioned into the fighter wing in June 2006, he has accumulated an impressive 2,000 hours of flight experience across diverse aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32. Achieving the rank of group captain in March 2024, Shukla is also the astronaut-designate for India’s Gaganyaan mission.
In 2019, a pivotal call from ISRO led Shukla to undergo rigorous training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Moscow—a transformative year-long preparation for his astronautical pursuits.
This mission, Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), also heralds significant milestones for Poland and Hungary, marking each nation’s return to human spaceflight in over 40 years. This is the first time these three countries will participate in a mission on the ISS together, highlighting Axiom Space's role in reshaping global low-Earth orbit access and advancing national space initiatives.
Commanded by former NASA astronaut and Axiom Space's Director of Human Spaceflight, Peggy Whitson, the mission includes Shukla as the pilot and two European Space Agency project astronauts, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, as mission specialists. The astronauts aim to spend up to 14 days on the ISS, engaging in various scientific, outreach, and commercial ventures. This historic mission signifies a bold step for international cooperation and technological advancement in space exploration.