Shubhanshu Shukla embarks on his Space Journey today

Millions of dreams soar to touch space and conquer that final frontier. And only some, like Shubhanshu, get to live it.

Shubhanshu Shukla, the Indian Astronaut  

39-year-old, Shubhanshu Shukla, has propelled himself into history as the first Indian on the International Space Station and only the second to go into space after Rakesh Sharma in 1984. Shukla, who joined the Indian Air Force in 2006, has more than 2,000 hours of flying experience on various fighter jets over a decade-long career in the Indian Air Force.

He holds an MTech in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

Born in Lucknow, and often called ‘Shux, Shilka is part of an ISRO-NASA-supported commercial spaceflight by Axiom Space that blasted off for a 14-day sojourn to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Axiom-4 Mission

‘What a ride,’ says Shubhanshu Shukla as India returns to human spaceflight as he zoomed into space on board the SpaceX Falcon 9-rocket today (June 25, 2025). “Namaskar, my dear countrymen. We have returned to space after a gap of 41 years, and what an amazing ride it was”, he said, urging everyone to be a part of his journey.

"We are orbiting the Earth at a speed of 7.5 km per second... This is not just the beginning of my journey to the International Space Station, but the beginning of India’s human space programme, and I desire that all the countrymen become a part of this journey," he added.

Along with Shukla, former NASA astronaut Mission Commander Peggy Whitson, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are part of the Axiom-4 mission that marks the return to space for the three nations.

PM Modi’s Tweet on ‘X’

“We welcome the successful launch of the Space Mission carrying astronauts from India, Hungary, Poland and the US. The Indian Astronaut, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, is on the way to become the first Indian to go to the International Space Station. He carries with him the wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians. Wish him and other astronauts all the success!"

Experiments with India-centric food

·Group Captain Shukla is set to conduct exclusive food and nutrition-related experiments developed under a collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and with support from NASA.

·ISRO has lined up a set of seven experiments for Shukla, who will also participate in five joint studies planned by NASA for its human research programme.

·It has drawn up plans to focus on India-centric food for carrying out experiments on the ISS, including sprouting methi (fenugreek) and moong (green gram) in microgravity conditions.

The Union Cabinet yesterday passed a resolution as Shubhanshu Shukla scripted history by embarking on a space odyssey for a commercial mission by Axiom Space.

Indeed, Captain Shukla gave wings to the hopes of a 1.4 billion nation to dream higher.