IAF’s Shubhanshu Shukla becomes 1st Indian astronaut to go to space in decades
Shukla is be the second Indian astronaut after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme in 1984, to go to space
Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian astronaut to head to space in over four decades, marking a historic milestone. The much-delayed Axiom-4 (Ax-4) two-week mission, comprising a four-member international crew, including Shukla, lifted off on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from the Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
The fourth private astronaut mission on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) is led by commander Peggy Whitson, with 39-year-old Shukla as the pilot and Sławosz Uznański and Tibor Kapu as mission specialists. A toy swan called Joy will be the mission’s “fifth crew member” and act as a zero-g indicator. In India, the swan represents wisdom and purity.
At 10.22am, Dragon’s hatch was closed, and all communication and suit checks were completed. “The seats are rotated, and the AX-4 crew is ready for launch!” posted Axiom Space on X. “This is the first flight for the Dragon supporting this mission, adding a fifth Dragon to the fleet to support human spaceflight missions.”
Less than an hour before the launch, minus an issue with Dragon, all issues, including weather and technical issues, were sorted. NASA said the targeted docking time was 7am EDT (4.30pm IST) on June 26.
Ax-4 mission, a collaborative effort between Texas-based Axiom Space, SpaceX, and NASA, with crew members from India, Hungary, Poland, and the US to the ISS, marks the return of the first human spaceflight for the former three countries after over 40 years.
In his first message, 11 minutes after lift off, Shukla greeted India with a namaskar and said he had the Indian flag on his shoulder. He urged Indians to be as proud and as excited. Shulka said this is the beginning of India’s human space programme.
For India, Shukla is be the second astronaut after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma to go to space. In 1984, Squadron Leader Sharma flew aboard Soyuz T-11 as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme and spent seven days on Salyut 7.
In a video message before the launch, Sharma said, “Greetings from India. Wishing you all the very best, to the crew. Godspeed, and spend as much time as possible looking out of the window. Have a fun time, guys.” Shukla’s wife and son also cheered him, saying he was their hero.
Shukla, a decorated test pilot with the IAF, was shortlisted under Isro’s Human Spaceflight Program (HSP). Born in Lucknow, Shukla was commissioned into the IAF fighter wing in June 2006 and has accumulated 2,000 hours of flight experience as a combat leader and test pilot. He rose to the rank of group captain in March 2024 and underwent rigorous year-long training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Moscow.
In February last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled him as one of the elite astronauts training for the Gaganyaan mission. The Lucknow-born Shukla is expected to gain critical hands-on experience in spaceflight operations, launch protocols, microgravity adaptation, and emergency preparedness — all essential for India’s crewed space ambitions. On ISS, Shukla will also interact with important dignitaries, students, and members from India’s space industry.
The Department of Space has termed Shukla’s mission as one of strategic importance, with the focus on operational readiness and global integration, and India’s resolve to emerge as a serious contender in human space exploration.
Former Isro chairperson S Somanath said that the experience and learnings from Shukla’s mission to space will greatly help India’s Gaganyaan mission and setting up the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (Indian Space Station).
Prior to Wednesday’s launch, the human spaceflight was postponed five times. With the Ax-4 crew having entered the quarantine period from May 26, the mission was originally fixed for May 29. The launch was marred first by technical issues on the Crew Dragon Module, followed by unfavourable weather conditions, a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon 9 rocket, and a pressure signature indicating a leak in the aftmost segment of the ISS Zvezda Russian service module. The last factor led to the mission being pushed twice.
Hours after June 25 was announced as the new date, the US space agency said the decision was made after officials from NASA and Roscosmos discussed the status of the recent repair work in the transfer tunnel at the aft (back) most segment of the Zvezda service module.
“Based on the evaluations, NASA and Roscosmos agreed to further lower the pressure in the transfer tunnel to 100 millimeters of mercury, and teams will continue to evaluate going forward. Safety remains a top priority for NASA and Roscosmos.”
Acting NASA administrator Janet Petro said that NASA and Roscosmos have a long history of cooperation and collaboration on ISS. “This professional working relationship has allowed the agencies to arrive at a shared technical approach, and now Axiom Mission 4 launch and docking will proceed. We look forward to the launch with Axiom Space and SpaceX for this commercial international mission.”
For the Ax-4 mission, NASA is responsible for integrated operations, which begin during the spacecraft’s approach to the space station, continue during the crew’s stay aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting science, education, and commercial activities, and conclude once the spacecraft departs the station.
On board the ISS, the Ax-4 crew is set to conduct 60 science experiments representing 31 countries, including the US, India, Poland, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Nigeria, UAE, and nations across Europe.
Shukla will undertake seven homegrown microgravity experiments proposed by national R&D laboratories and academic institutions, ranging from studying the impact of microgravity radiation in the ISS on edible microalgae, sprouting salad seeds in space, analysing human interaction with electronic displays in microgravity, to impact of microgravity on growth and yield parameters in food crop seeds.
