India will achieve a historic milestone Wednesday when Shubanshu Shukla, an Indian Air Force pilot, becomes the nation’s first astronaut to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), a private spaceflight organised by Axiom Space.
Shukla, 39, from Lucknow, will join a four-person crew aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The mission, originally scheduled for June 10, 2025, was delayed by one day due to unfavorable weather conditions, Axiom Space announced.
The launch is now set for June 11, 2025, pending final weather clearance.
The Ax-4 mission, a collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NASA, and SpaceX, marks India’s growing presence in space exploration.
The Indian government has invested $60 million (₹500 crore) in the mission, which underscores the nation’s ambition to become a key player in human spaceflight.
Shukla will be the third person of Indian descent to venture into space, following Rakesh Sharma, who flew aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11 mission in 1984, and Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-born U.S. citizen who participated in two NASA space shuttle missions. Tragically, Chawla and her crew perished during the Columbia disaster in 2003.
“This mission is not just my journey; it represents the aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians,” Shukla told The Hindu in an interview before the launch.
Shukla, a seasoned test pilot with over 2,000 hours of flight experience, underwent rigorous training for the mission.
In 2020, he trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia, followed by advanced preparation at ISRO’s Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru.
His expertise and resilience earned him a spot on the Ax-4 crew, led by veteran astronaut Commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut with extensive ISS experience.
The crew also includes Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a Polish engineer from the European Space Agency (ESA), and Tibor Kapu, a mission specialist from the Hungarian Space Office.
The 14-day mission will see the crew conduct 60 scientific experiments aboard the ISS, focusing on microgravity research, Earth observation, and studies in life sciences, biology, and materials science.
Shukla emphasised the significance of the data he will collect, calling it “invaluable” for advancing India’s space research capabilities. Among the experiments, Shukla will contribute to ISRO-led studies on space agriculture and radiation effects, which could inform future long-duration missions.
ISRO has named Group Captain Prashant Nair as Shukla’s backup for the mission. Both astronauts are part of India’s Gaganyaan program, the country’s first indigenous human spaceflight initiative, slated for launch in 2027.
Shukla and Nair, designated as “Gaganyaanis,” are among four astronauts selected for the program, which aims to demonstrate India’s ability to send humans into low Earth orbit. India also has ambitious plans for a crewed lunar mission by 2040, aligning with its vision to establish a sustained human presence in space.
The Ax-4 mission highlights the growing role of private companies in space exploration. Axiom Space, founded in 2016, aims to expand access to the ISS and eventually develop a commercial space station. SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, provides the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket for the mission, building on its track record of successful crewed flights to the ISS.
India’s participation in Ax-4 comes at a time of rapid advancements in its space program.
ISRO’s recent successes, including the Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing in 2023 and the Aditya-L1 solar observatory launched in 2024, have bolstered its global reputation.
The Gaganyaan program, with a budget of $1.2 billion (₹10,000 crore), is a cornerstone of India’s space ambitions, aiming to make the country the fourth nation—after the United States, Russia, and China—to independently launch humans into space.
As Shukla prepares for his historic journey, the mission has sparked widespread enthusiasm across India.
 as part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), a private spaceflight organised by Axiom Space.){kind=link}