Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will become the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS). The launch will take place on June 10 aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4). Shukla will serve as the mission pilot under the leadership of former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson.
The Ax-4 mission, therefore, marks a groundbreaking private flight; notably, it includes astronauts from Poland and Hungary. In fact, this mission signifies their return to human spaceflight after more than 40 years. Moreover, it highlights the growing role of international collaboration in commercial space exploration. The crew will be at the ISS for 14 days and will be doing various experiments and will be working on education outreach, and commercial projects in partnership with NASA and ISRO.
Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s Early Life
Shubhanshu Shukla was born in Lucknow in 1985 and was inspired to join the military forces after the Kargil war in 1999. He cleared the NDA, earned a BSc in Computer Science in 2005 and later completed his M.Tech in Aerospace Engineering.
Commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 2006, Shukla has flown over 2,000 hours on multiple aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI and MiG-29. Promoted to Group Captain in 2024, has even earned the nickname “wicked smart.”
Journey to the Stars
In 2019, authorities selected Shukla for India’s Gaganyaan program and trained him at Russia’s Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, followed by sessions in Bengaluru, Germany (ESA), and Japan (JAXA). In February 2024, PM Narendra Modi named him one of four astronaut-designates for the Gaganyaan mission scheduled for 2026. But before that, he will fly as the pilot of the Ax-4 mission.
Shubhanshu Shukla, nicknamed “Shuks,” will be the second Indian citizen in space, 41 years after his hero Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 mission, and the first to visit the ISS. With this upcoming mission, Shukla will become the second Indian citizen to be in space and the first to have been in the ISS.
NASA, SpaceX, and ISRO are collaborating on this mission, which makes this an important event for Indian space exploration.
