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Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is going to make history as the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS). He has been selected as the pilot for Axiom Mission 4 (X-4), a private astronaut mission. This mission will be launched on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft before the spring of 2025.
Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Shubhanshu Shukla will join the team led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. In this mission, he will serve as the mission commander. He will be accompanied by two mission specialists Slavoj Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. This mission will not only send ISRO’s first astronaut to the ISS, but will also be the first time for astronauts from Poland and Hungary to stay at the station.
Expressing his excitement about the mission, Shubhanshu Shukla said that he hopes to share his experience with the people of India. He plans to carry cultural objects from different parts of the country. He even intends to perform yoga postures on the ISS. He said that even as a person traveling to space, this is a journey of 1.4 billion people. This mission will last for 14 days, during which the crew will conduct scientific experiments, outreach programs and commercial activities in microgravity.
The Ax-4 mission is part of an effort to allow private astronauts to reach low Earth orbit. According to Dana Weigel, NASA’s ISS program manager, private missions like Ax-4 will help pave the way for a sustainable low Earth orbit economy, which can enable deep space exploration in the future. Whitson praised the cooperation of the Ax-4 crew and described their commitment to space exploration as noteworthy.
Who is Shubhanshu Shukla?
Shubhanshu was born on 10 October 1985 in Lucknow. In June 2006, he received commission in the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a fighter pilot. After this, he became a Group Captain in March 2024. Shubhanshu has flown over 2,000 flights on various aircraft including Su-30 MKI, MIG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier and An-32.
Underwent astronaut training at Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, Russia in 2019. Selected by ISRO for India’s Gaganyaan mission, the country’s first human spaceflight programme. First ISRO astronaut to travel to ISS under the NASA-Axiom Space collaboration. Plans to capture his space experience through photos and videos for people back home.
