India Returns to Space After 41 Years: IAF’s Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla Pilots Axiom-4 Mission
India marked a historic return to human spaceflight as IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla lifted off aboard the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Shukla, 39, becomes the second Indian in space, and the first to visit the International Space Station (ISS).
The mission is being conducted by Axiom Space in partnership with NASA, ISRO, ESA, and SpaceX. Shukla joins a multinational crew from Poland and Hungary, both also returning to space after decades. Ax-4 launched aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule powered by a Falcon 9 rocket at 12:01 IST on Wednesday.
Shukla’s journey, coming 41 years after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 mission, has sparked national pride. From his hometown Lucknow, his parents and students watched the live broadcast with joy. Shukla remarked, “This is not just a journey to the ISS, it’s the beginning of India’s human spaceflight era.”
The mission is a key step in ISRO’s Gaganyaan program, with India aiming to launch its own crewed mission by 2027, establish a space station by 2035, and send astronauts to the Moon by 2040. ISRO paid ₹5 billion for Shukla’s training and seat on Ax-4.
While on the ISS for two weeks, Shukla will assist with 60 scientific experiments, including seven from India focused on microgravity biology, crop seeds, algae growth, and space medicine. He is also expected to interact with students and Prime Minister Narendra Modi live from space.
This launch signifies India’s rising stature in global space exploration.
