It’s been 41 years since an Indian last went to space, but that drought ended yesterday when Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla floated through the hatch of the International Space Station, becoming the first Indian to actually board the orbiting laboratory.
The 39-year-old fighter pilot docked with the ISS at 4:01 PM Indian time on Wednesday as part of Axiom Mission 4, and his first words from space were quintessentially Indian: “Namaskar from Space.”
“What a ride it was!” Shukla said in a live video message, grinning as he floated in zero gravity. “It is not a personal accomplishment. It is a collective achievement.” You could hear the excitement in his voice, even through the crackling space-to-ground communications.
[Instagram Video]
Shukla launched the day before from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, strapped into a SpaceX Dragon capsule along with three other astronauts: American commander Peggy Whitson, Poland’s Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu. The international crew will spend two weeks conducting dozens of experiments for 31 different countries.
From left to right: Tibor Kapu, Shubhanshu Shukla, Peggy Whitson, and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski
In this Article
A Long Journey from Lucknow
The path from a middle-class family in Lucknow to the ISS wasn’t exactly conventional. Born in 1985, Shukla was just a teenager when the Kargil War broke out in 1999, and watching the conflict unfold apparently lit a fire in him to serve his country. He enrolled at the National Defence Academy, studying computer science before joining the Air Force in 2006.
Since then, he’s logged over 2,000 flying hours in pretty much every frontline aircraft the IAF operates—Su-30s, MiGs, Jaguars, you name it. He even went back to school, earning a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.
When India announced its Gaganyaan program in 2019 – the country’s first attempt at sending its own astronauts to space—Shukla was among the pilots selected. That meant two years of brutal training in Russia at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, the same facility that trained Soviet and Russian cosmonauts for decades.
Picking Up Where Rakesh Sharma Left Off
The last Indian in space was Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who flew to the Soviet space station Salyut 7 in 1984. When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked him how India looked from space, Sharma famously replied, “Saare jahan se achha” – better than the whole world.
Shukla’s mission is different though. While Sharma was essentially a passenger on a Soviet mission, Shukla is part of a commercial space venture that showcases how much the space industry has changed. Private companies like SpaceX and Axiom Space are now routine players in getting people to orbit.
For India, this mission is also a crucial stepping stone. The country has been trying to join the exclusive club of nations that can launch their own astronauts – so far, only Russia, the United States, and China have managed it independently. India’s Gaganyaan program aims to change that, possibly as early as next year.
The Science Side
Over the next two weeks, the Ax-4 crew will be pretty busy. They’ve got about 60 different experiments to run, covering everything from growing plants in microgravity to testing new materials that could only be manufactured in space. Some of the research could lead to new medicines; others might help design better spacecraft for future missions to the Moon or Mars.
It’s the kind of international cooperation that makes space exploration unique. Despite all the tensions on Earth, countries still manage to work together when it comes to scientific research 400 kilometers above the planet.
What This Means for India
Let’s be honest – this mission is as much about national pride as it is about science. India has been rapidly expanding its space capabilities, from landing on the Moon’s south pole to launching dozens of satellites. Having an Indian astronaut working on the ISS sends a clear message that the country belongs among the major spacefaring nations.
The timing isn’t coincidental either. India’s space budget has been growing steadily, and the government clearly sees space technology as crucial for everything from military applications to boosting the economy. Shukla’s mission provides valuable experience that will directly benefit the Gaganyaan program.
Plus, there’s something to be said for inspiration. Millions of Indian kids are probably looking up at the night sky right now, knowing that one of their countrymen is up there conducting experiments and representing India on humanity’s greatest scientific project.
The mission wraps up in two weeks when the Dragon capsule undocks and splashes down off the Florida coast. By then, Shukla will have helped conduct cutting-edge research, gained invaluable experience for India’s space program, and maybe inspired the next generation of Indian astronauts.
Not bad for a fighter pilot from Lucknow who was inspired by a war when he was 14 years old.
