Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla tells PM Modi of global excitement for Gaganyaan mission

Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that there is a lot of interest about India’s Gaganyaan mission around the world and scientists were keen to be part of it.

In an interaction with the prime minister on Monday evening, Shukla also shared his experiences about his space journey to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission, adjusting to micro-gravity conditions, and the experiments he carried out on the orbital lab.

The video of Shukla's interaction with the prime minister was shared on Tuesday. “People are very excited about India’s Gaganyaan mission. Many of my crew mates (of the Axiom-4 mission) wanted to know about the launch,” Shukla said.

“Many of my crew mates even took signed declarations from me that they would be invited for the launch of Gaganyaan mission. They wanted to travel in our vehicle,” Shukla said.

Modi said there was a need to have a pool of 40-50 astronauts ready for India’s future space missions.

“I had said that your mission is the first step,” Modi said, referring to India’s ambitions in the space sector.

Modi told Shukla that his mission to the ISS will be helpful in India’s space ambitions.

India plans to undertake its first human spaceflight in 2027 and build its own space station by 2035. India also has plans to land its own astronaut on the moon by 2040.