Shubhanshu Shukla on Wednesday became the second Indian to travel to space 41 years after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 flight aboard the Soyuz.
Shukla is piloting a public-private, multi-country mission to the International Space
Station (ISS).
A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 12.01pm (IST) from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, ferrying Shukla and three other astronauts on the Axiom Mission 4 (AX-4), headed for a two-week stay on the ISS focused on science, public outreach and technology demonstrations.
The spacecraft, riding atop SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon-9 rocket, reached Earth orbit about nine minutes after liftoff at an altitude of 198km. The astronauts are expected to eat and rest before Dragon approaches the ISS for docking on Thursday evening, some 400km above Earth.
“What a ride!” Shukla said, moments after orbit insertion. “We’re back in space after 41 years. It’s been an amazing ride, this is not my journey to the International Space Station, this is the start of India’s human space programme,” he said in a live statement, addressing “fellow citizens”.
“I want you all to be part of this journey… your chest too should swell with pride,” the 39-year-old Indian Air Force combat pilot said in Hindi.
His fellow travellers are mission commander Peggy Whitson, 65, a veteran Nasa astronaut who has spent 675 days in space across three missions — more than any other American or woman astronaut in the world — and mission specialists Hungary’s Tibor Kapu, 33, and Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisiniewski, 41.
“It’s been an incredible ride uphill,” Whitson said right after orbit insertion, adding that the spacecraft is on course to the ISS.
Shukla’s opportunity to fly on AX-4 emerged from a 2023 Nasa offer to train and fly an Indian astronaut to the ISS as part of collaborative efforts between Nasa and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).
Isro views the AX-4 mission as another step towards its own human spaceflight programme named Gaganyaan that aims to send two astronauts into low-Earth orbit on an Indian space capsule and bring them back through a splashdown in the sea.
India’s first crewed Gaganyaan mission is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027, Jitendra Singh, Union minister of state for science, technology, atomic energy and space departments, had said last month.
“The experience and the knowhow from the AX-4 mission is significant to us and will feed into our Gaganyaan programme,” Sudheesh Balan, project director at Isro, had said in a media briefing on the mission earlier this year.
The AX-4 mission astronauts are expected to spend 14 days on the ISS conducting scientific experiments, engaging in public outreach, and supporting technology demonstrations.
Altogether, the mission will support some 60 microgravity experiments from 30 countries, spanning life sciences, material sciences and earth observations, among others, according to a mission document posted by Axiom Space, a US-based private company engaged in commercial missions to the ISS and working towards building the first commercial space station.
Shukla had said in a pre-launch briefing earlier this month that he hoped to speak from the space station to gatherings of academics, students and VIPs.
During his 1984 Soyuz mission, Sharma, another IAF pilot, had spoken with then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Isro and Nasa are collaborating on five joint science investigations during the AX-4 mission, probing muscle cells, microalgae, crop seeds, tiny aquatic organisms and electronic displays under microgravity.
Bhangra and tears
Chants of “Hip Hip Hurray”, spontaneous bhangra and quiet tears. It was a morning to remember at the City Montessori School as Lucknow boy Shubhanshu Shukla lifted off into space — and history — from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Wednesday.
“It’s a great moment not just for us but for our country. What can we say at this moment, I am struggling for words now. My blessings are always there with my son,” his father Shambhu Shukla told PTI.
“I have nothing more to say at this moment. I am delighted,” Shubhanshu’s mother Asha Shukla said.
“I know he will be successful. Though I am eagerly looking forward for him to return after a successful mission, I also know that even after returning to earth, it will take a while before he actually gets back among us. We are all overwhelmed with pride... Our son has made history,” she told PTI.
The proud parents were there with many others at CMS Kanpur Road’s World Unity Convention Centre (WUCC) auditorium to witness the launch live.
Among those gathered were his sisters, senior defence personnel, CMS faculty, the city’s who’s who and wide-eyed students.
As the Falcon 9 rocket soared into the skies, the family grew emotional watching the live launch, their eyes full.
Asked about the tears, Asha said: “These are tears of joy. The lift off was an emotional moment for us.”
Additional reporting by PTI