Meet Shubhanshu Shukla, The First Indian Astronaut to Reach ISS
Shubhanshu Shukla, a 39-year-old young Indian astronaut from Uttar Pradesh, marks a significant milestone by piloting the fourth private astronaut flight from Axiom Space to the International Space Station (ISS). The collaboration project of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Axiom Mission 4 is set to launch on June 10.
The mission marks the commitment made by US President Donald Trump and PM Narendra Modi to send an ISRO astronaut to the station. According to NASA, the two space agencies are participating in 5 joint science investigations and two in-orbit science, technology, engineering, and mathematics demonstrations.
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Shubhanshu Shukla is an Indian Air Force pilot who became the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma, in 1984, and the first Indian to reach the ISS.
Representing India, meet #Ax4 Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla. @isro pic.twitter.com/3NkwIP3ER7
— Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) June 8, 2025
The Indian Astronaut hails from Lucknow, UP and completed his military training and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the NDA in 2005. In June 2006, he was commissioned into the Fighter stream of the Indian Air Force as a flying officer.
Shukla was included in the astronaut selection process in 2019 by the IAM, an organization under IAF for the Indian Human Spacflight Programme. Later, he was shortlisted in the final four by IAM and ISRO.
The Axiom 4 mission involves a crew from the USA, India (Shubhanshu Shukla), Poland, and Hungary, marking their first spaceflights in over 40 years. The mission will conduct ~60 experiments in microgravity, spanning human research, Earth observation, and material sciences, involving 31 countries.
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The crew will travel to the ISS on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and is scheduled to spend up to 14 days aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Educational outreach, like ISS Ham Radio, aims to inspire students. While it fosters global collaboration and scientific progress, critics argue that the funds, like India’s $59M, could address poverty or unemployment.
