NEW DELHI– As Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla prepares to make history by becoming the first Indian to reach the International Space Station (ISS), his family says the moment is one of “immense pride” for both the nation and his loved ones.
Shukla is set to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on June 10 at 8:22 a.m. ET (5:52 p.m. IST) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as part of Axiom Space’s Mission 4 (Ax-4). He will join three other international astronauts on the journey to the ISS.
While Shukla will be the first Indian to reach the ISS, he will be the second Indian in space overall—following Rakesh Sharma’s historic 1984 mission to the Soviet space station Salyut 7.
Speaking from Lucknow, Shukla’s mother expressed her overwhelming pride. “We are definitely feeling proud. Our son has achieved something truly remarkable,” she told IANS. She also urged parents across India to support and encourage their children to find their own paths and reach great heights.
His father echoed her sentiments, calling the milestone “a big achievement for the country,” and noted the significance of the occasion coming nearly four decades after Sharma’s spaceflight.
Shukla’s sister emphasized the dedication he has shown throughout his career. “It is a moment of immense pride for our entire family. He’s worked so hard to reach this point,” she said.
The 39-year-old officer is also the youngest astronaut-designate in India’s Gaganyaan program, the country’s first human spaceflight mission.
Back home, his hometown is celebrating his journey with posters, banners, and car decals. Large cutouts of the astronaut have been installed at his family’s residence to mark the historic occasion.
Shukla will serve as the pilot for the Ax-4 mission, alongside U.S. astronaut Commander Peggy Whitson. The mission specialists include Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
While on board the ISS, Shukla is expected to lead food and nutrition-related experiments developed through a joint effort by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), with support from NASA.
The research will explore the effects of microgravity and space radiation on edible microalgae, a promising nutrient-rich food source for future space missions. The study will analyze changes in growth patterns and molecular structures—such as transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes—of various algae species in space compared to those on Earth. (Source: IANS)
