Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force has successfully reached the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, becoming the first Indian to set foot on the orbital laboratory in over four decades.
The Dragon capsule, launched as part of the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), completed a flawless docking—referred to as a “soft capture”—with the ISS on Thursday. The journey began a day earlier from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
Shukla’s participation in Ax-4 represents a landmark moment for India’s space journey, reconnecting the nation with human spaceflight since the historic mission of Rakesh Sharma in 1984.
The Ax-4 mission features an international team of astronauts led by Peggy Whitson, the most experienced American astronaut to date and now a mission commander for Axiom Space. Alongside Shukla, the crew includes Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, a radiation specialist from Poland and a project astronaut for the European Space Agency, and Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer from Hungary.
Over the next two weeks, the crew will carry out a comprehensive range of scientific investigations aboard the ISS. These include research in microgravity effects on biology, materials science, and next-generation space technologies—contributing to both commercial space initiatives and international scientific collaboration.
This mission marks a significant step forward in India’s aspirations for future human space exploration, especially as ISRO gears up for its indigenous Gaganyaan mission. Shukla’s journey also reflects the growing role of international partnerships and private spaceflight in shaping the next chapter of space research.
As Shubhanshu Shukla begins his stay aboard the ISS, the mission underscores both a personal achievement and a renewed chapter for India in the global space community.
