India To Send First Astronaut On Mission To ISS

Shubhanshu Shukla will become the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station as part of a four-person mission by Axiom Space launching from the U.S.. The mission will include 14 days aboard the ISS and over 60 scientific studies. The Guardian reports: He will be the third astronaut of Indian origin to reach orbit, following Rakesh Sharma, who was part of a 1984 flight onboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft, and Kalpana Chawla, who was born in India but became a US citizen and flew on two space shuttle missions, including the 2003 Columbia flight that ended in disaster when the spacecraft disintegrated, killing all seven astronauts onboard. 'I truly believe that even though, as an individual, I am traveling to space, this is the journey of 1.4 billion people,' Shukla was quoted as saying by the Hindu newspaper this year. Shukla said he hoped to 'ignite the curiosity of an entire generation in my country.'

India's department of space has called the trip a 'defining chapter' in its ambitious space exploration program. The International Space Station mission (ISS) 'stands as a symbol of a confident, forward-looking nation ready to reclaim its place in the global space race,' the agency said before the launch. 'His journey is more than just a flight -- it's a signal that India is stepping boldly into a new era of space exploration.' New Delhi has paid more than $60m for the mission, according to Indian media reports.

Shukla trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia in 2020, before undertaking further training at the ISRO's centre in Bengaluru. He has said the journey aboard the Axiom Mission 4, and the expected 14 days on the ISS, will provide 'invaluable' lessons to bring back home. Shukla will be led by the mission commander, Peggy Whitson, a former Nasa astronaut and an Axiom employee, and joined by the European Space Agency astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, of Poland, and Tibor Kapu, of Hungary. They will conduct 60 scientific studies, including microgravity research, earth observation, and life, biological and material sciences experiments.

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