As Group Captain Shubahanshu Shukla prepares to embark on the Axiom-4 space mission on Wednesday, the Indian Air Force (IAF) hailed the journey as a “new Chapter to the Indian space odyssey”.
The launch, initially scheduled for Tuesday, has been postponed to Wednesday.
Ahead of this historic mission, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh spoke with Group Captain Shukla, extending his best wishes on the behalf of all Air Warriors to the entire crew of Axiom-4 for a safe and successful trip to the International Space Station.
“This will add a new chapter to the Indian Space Odyssey,” the IAF stated in post on X.
Shukla is only the second Indian to go on a space mission, 41 years after Rakesh Sharma’s landmark 1984 journey aboard Soviet Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.
Shukla, a distinguished pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF), was handpicked as one of the four astronauts for the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) historic Gaganyaan mission — the nation’s inaugural human space flight endeavour.
The other astronauts are from Poland, and Hungary. For all the astronauts, this marks their first space mission.
Born on October 10, 1985, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Shukla’s journey began when he was commissioned into the IAF fighter wing in June 2006, his profile on Axiom-4 read.
As a combat leader and seasoned test pilot, he boasts an impressive 2,000 hours of flight experience across various aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32. His ascent to the rank of Group Captain in March 2024 reflects his exceptional contributions.
He was called by the ISRO in 2019 to embarked on rigorous training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Moscow, Russia — a year-long preparation that would shape his destiny.
On February 27, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Shukla as one of the elite astronauts undergoing intensive training for India’s maiden human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, scheduled for launch in 2025.
Now, as he prepares to pilot the historic Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) to the International Space Station, Shukla is honoured and excited to contribute to India’s remarkable advancements in human space exploration.