Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the 39-year-old Indian Air Force officer turned astronaut, sent his first message from orbit today, just hours after liftoff aboard the historic Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch marks India’s return to human spaceflight after more than four decades.
Adapting to space like a newborn
Strapped inside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Shukla described his early hours in orbit. “Hello everyone, namaskar from space. I am thrilled to be here with my fellow astronauts. Wow, what a ride it was,” he said. Recounting the intense launch, he added, “You’re pushed back in your seat… then suddenly, nothing—you’re floating.” Shukla candidly admitted to not feeling great initially in microgravity, saying, “I’ve been told I’m sleeping a lot since yesterday.”
India’s second astronaut, first to ISS
With this journey, Shukla becomes only the second Indian citizen in space and the first to dock with the ISS. The previous Indian astronaut, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, flew aboard a Soviet mission in 1984. The Ax-4 crew includes Commander Peggy Whitson, veteran of three NASA missions, and mission specialists Tibor Kapu (Hungary) and Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland).
Historic liftoff after delays
The launch, originally set for May 29, faced multiple delays due to weather and technical issues. After weeks of troubleshooting, the teams from NASA, SpaceX, and Axiom Space achieved a flawless launch witnessed by cheering crowds in India, Hungary, Poland, and the US. The mission took off from Pad LC-39A, the same site used by Apollo 11.
