Subhanshu Shukla, Group Captain and fighter pilot from the Indian Air Force, astronaut becomes first Indian to travel to space in 40 years
Los Angeles/Jun 25, 2025
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh
Shubhanshu Shukla, 39, Group Captain and fighter pilot from the Indian Air Force, has made history as the first Indian astronaut to reach the International Space Station (ISS) in over 40 years.
Flying as pilot on Axiom Mission 4—a privately funded mission by Axiom Space and SpaceX—Shukla launched on June 25 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon "Grace" spacecraft.
The mission includes veteran NASA commander Peggy Whitson, and specialists from Poland and Hungary. The Dragon is set to dock at the ISS by June 26.
Born in Lucknow on October 10, 1985, Shukla holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in 2006. With over 2,000 hours of flying experience across advanced fighter jets, he was selected in 2024 as one of the prime astronauts for India’s upcoming Gaganyaan mission.
Onboard the ISS for approximately two weeks, he will lead a series of over 60 microgravity experiments, including several proposed by Indian researchers, as part of India’s renewed push into human spaceflight.
By returning India to the ISS for the first time since Rakesh Sharma's historic 1984 flight, Shukla’s mission marks a pivotal moment ahead of Gaganyaan—scheduled for crewed launch in 2027—and underscores increasing global collaboration through commercial space ventures.
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