The North News
New Delhi, June 26
Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla has become the first Indian to reach the International Space Station (ISS), marking a major milestone in the country’s space journey today. Shukla is part of the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), a private spaceflight organised by Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA and SpaceX. The mission launched on June 25 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:00 pm local time, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Crew Dragon capsule. The spacecraft successfully docked with the ISS on Thursday, according to NASA.
Shukla, an astronaut from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is serving as the pilot on the mission. He is now the second Indian to travel to space, following Rakesh Sharma in 1984, and the first to set foot aboard the ISS. The crew also includes veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who is commanding the mission; Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of the European Space Agency (ESA) from Poland; and Tibor Kapu from Hungary, participating under the country’s new HUNOR programme.
The astronauts will spend two weeks on the ISS, conducting a range of scientific experiments, educational activities, and commercial work. The mission features five joint science experiments and two STEM-focused demonstrations developed by NASA and ISRO.
Shukla’s participation fulfils a 2020 commitment made during the state visit ofUS President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting a deepening Indo-US space partnership. For Poland and Hungary, the mission also represents their first extended astronaut stays aboard the ISS, underlining a shift toward broader international participation through Axiom’s commercial model.
Axiom ultimately plans to build the first private space station, which could eventually replace the ISS when NASA retires it later this decade.
