Shubhanshu Shukla to pilot Axiom-4 Mission: My journey to area would be the journey of 1.4 billion fellow Indians

Axiom Mission 4 crew clockwise: Commander Peggy Whitson, Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewsk, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu. Photograph: X/@Axiom_Space

Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla would be the pilot of the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the Worldwide House Station (ISS). NASA and its worldwide companions introduced on Thursday (January 30, 2025) that that they had authorized the crew for the mission.

Group Captain Shukla, who can be one of many 4 astronaut-designates chosen for India’s Gaganyaan mission, will turn into the primary Indian astronaut to go to the ISS and the primary Indian to go to area within the final 40 years.

The mission to the ISS will probably be launched from the company’s Kennedy House Heart in Florida in 2025, and the mission crew will spend 14 days on board the area station and can conduct varied experiments in the course of the keep.

Whereas former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will command the industrial mission, Group Captain Shukla would be the pilot.

European House Company undertaking astronauts Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary are additionally a part of the crew.

“Axiom-4 mission is essential for India, and it comes at a really opportune time. I’m assured that the teachings learnt in the course of the Axiom-4 mission are going to show invaluable for our journey again dwelling,” mentioned Group Captain Shukla on Thursday.

Group Captain Shukla, whose mission name signal is ‘Shucks,’ mentioned that witnessing the end-to-end execution of a human area flight mission will present the crew with key information that may assist them fill any gaps they might encounter.

“I additionally hope to ignite the curiosity of a complete era in my nation by means of my mission and drive the innovation that may make many such initiatives potential for us sooner or later. I even have a private agenda of capturing my expertise on the station by means of photos and movies in order that I can share this with all of the Bharatwasi (Indians) again dwelling; I really imagine that regardless that, as a person, I’m travelling to area, that is the journey of 1.4 billion folks,” he mentioned.

He added that he would exhibit a couple of poses of yoga within the ISS and that he can be practising it whereas they’re on the bottom. He additionally mentioned lots of stuff that represents the areas, notably India generally, can be taken to the ISS to honour India.

Group Captain Shukla is an alumnus of NDA and was commissioned on June 17, 2006, within the fighter stream of IAF. He’s a Fighter Fight Chief and a Take a look at Pilot with approx 2,000 hrs of flying expertise. He has flown quite a lot of plane, together with Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, An-32 and so forth.