When US-based Axiom Space’s mission to the International Space Station (ISS), carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla takes off on June 10, it will not only script history but also provide India with valuable experience to observe, adopt and improve upon its own human spaceflight programme that is fast taking shape.
Shukla will be the second Indian to travel to space, four decades after Rakesh Sharma’s iconic spaceflight onboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft in 1984. “It has been an amazing journey so far, but the best is yet to come. As I go into space, I carry not just instruments and equipment, I carry hopes and dreams of a billion hearts,” Shukla was quoted as saying in a media report.
In order to understand why it took so long for India’s second tryst with space, we will have to go back briefly in time.
Space exploration had its golden era in the 60s, 70s and the early 80s, when nothing in the universe felt out of reach for humanity, said industry experts. Unfortunately, the following years saw a gradual slowdown in space investments and programmes. “Even as Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma’s historic flight inspired a generation of Indians to look up and dare to dream, fewer crewed missions were being planned as leading nations such as the US and the (then) USSR began reconsidering their investments,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and CEO of Skyroot Aerospace, an Indian private aerospace manufacturer and commercial launch service provider headquartered in Hyderabad. “The reasons included the Challenger tragedy (which occurred on January 28, 1986, resulting in the death of all seven crew members aboard), a shift in public sentiment in the West post-recession, and the fall of the USSR. As space was, back then, an endeavour solely of public institutions, geopolitical and macroeconomic considerations mattered the most,” added Chandana.
Shukla, 39, is among the four designated astronauts shortlisted last year for India’s first-ever human space flight, scheduled for the first quarter of 2027. Later, it was announced that he would also serve as a pilot on board Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) to the ISS, for which the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is reportedly spending Rs 550 crore, with the express goal of gaining experience for future crewed missions. “Group Captain Shukla’s mission will provide India with a valuable experience to observe, adopt, and improve upon,” added Chandana.
In recent times, India’s human spaceflight programme took off only in 2018 when the Isro announced the Gaganyaan mission. Until then, human spaceflight was not a priority for Isro. In December that year, the Centre approved a further Rs 100 billion crore for a seven-day crewed flight.
Under the Gaganyaan mission, three astronauts, often referred to as Vyomnauts or Gagannauts, are to be placed in low Earth orbit at an altitude of around 400 km for a duration of three days. “This marks a significant leap in India’s space capability. Key technological milestones have been achieved, including the development of the crew module, environmental control and life support systems, and a successful test of the crew escape system through the TV-D1 mission,” said Anil Prakash, director-general of SIA-India, a leading space industry association and advocate for space exploration and technology advancement in the country.
The roadmap includes a series of uncrewed test missions, with the first (Gaganyaan-1) targeted for later this year. “The current target for the first crewed mission is 2027, following a series of uncrewed test flights, including one with a humanoid robot named Vyommitra and an emergency escape system demonstration, which was successfully tested in 2023. While the timeline has stretched, India is now in the final stages of preparation, and if all goes as planned, we are just one or two years away from realising the dream of an entirely indigenous human spaceflight,” explained Lt Gen AK Bhatt (retd), director general of the Indian Space Association (ISpA), the apex industry body of the Indian space industry.
Originally slated for June 8, Ax-4 will now lift off aboard SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida two days later on June 10. It is a collaborative effort between Nasa, the European Space Agency (Esa) and Isro, whose “Gaganyaan programme has now entered its final phase”, as Union MoS for science and technology Jitendra Singh disclosed at a media interaction in New Delhi last month.
Calling it a “historic mission”, Singh underlined that the Gaganyaan programme goes far beyond scientific achievement. “It represents India’s rise as a global space power built on indigenous technology, fiscal prudence, and visionary political leadership,” he said.
“Today, Gaganyaan is not just Isro’s mission. It is India’s mission,” Singh said, noting the vital role played by the private sector and startups following policy reforms initiated by the government.
Today, we are indeed witnessing a resurgence in space exploration driven by the private sector. “With the creation of IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre), the government has formalised policies to enable private players to access Isro facilities, collaborate on R&D, and eventually build and launch their own systems. Startups like Skyroot Aerospace, Agnikul Cosmos, and Bellatrix Aerospace have already demonstrated significant capabilities, from private launch vehicles to propulsion systems, which could eventually support crewed missions,” said Bhatt of ISpA.
Having contributed nearly 80% of the value chain in Isro missions, India’s private space sector is now evolving from a silent enabler to a strategic co-architect of human spaceflight, said Prakash of SIA-India. “With FDI liberalisation, targeted funding like Technology Adoption Fund & a Rs 1,000-crore venture fund, and a thriving startup ecosystem with over 250 space-tech start-ups, the private sector will be central to shaping the next chapter of India’s space journey,” he added.