Indian Air Force Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will head to the International Space Station in May — marking a historic milestone for the country. The astronaut-designate is scheduled to join three others on board a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for a two week stay in the orbiting laboratory late next month. Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will command the commercial mission put together by Axiom Space while Shukla serves as the pilot.
“The Axiom Mission 4 crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and travel to the space station. Once docked, the private astronauts plan to spend up to 14 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission comprised of science, outreach, and commercial activities. The mission will send the first ISRO astronaut to the station as part of a joint effort between NASA and the Indian space agency,” NASA explained in a press release.
The two mission specialists are European Space Agency project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary — the first people from the two countries to stay aboard the space station.
“The International space mission carrying an Indian astronaut is scheduled for next month. India is poised to script a defining chapter in its space journey. An Indian astronaut is set for a historic space mission as ISRO charts bold new frontiers. India’s space dreams are soaring higher with Gaganyaan preparations, ISS mission, and a summer of launches,” said Union Minister Jitendra Singh.
Who is Shubhanshu Shukla?
The IAF Captain was born in Lucknow and studied at the National Defence Academy in Pune before joining the Air Force in 2006. He was promoted to Group Captain in March 2024 and has over 2,000 hours of flight experience. He is a test pilot with the IAF and has reportedly flown a variety of aircrafts including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32. Shukla was tapped for astronaut training by ISRO in 2019 and later chosen as the prime astronaut for ISRO’s upcoming Gaganyaan mission — which will be the country’s first human spaceflight programme.
The Axiom mission in May will incidentally make him the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station and only the second person from the country to go into orbit after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma.