Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla travelled to the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission on June 25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who is aboard the International Space Station, via video conferencing. Shukla, along with three other astronauts, jetted off to the ISS on board SpaceX’s Dragon capsule from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, as part of the Axiom-4 mission, on June 25.
Shubhanshu Shukla also became the first Indian astronaut to head to space in over 40 years, marking a historic milestone for the nation. The Prime Minister’s Office posted on its official X handle, a picture of the duo’s interaction, “PM @narendramodi interacted with Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who is aboard the International Space Station.”
PM Modi also posted a video of his interaction with Shukla on X and wrote, “I had a wonderful conversation with Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as he shared his experiences from the International Space Station.” Citing that his name itself has “Shubh” (auspicious) in it, the Prime Minister said that the Group Captain’s successful journey to space marks the “shubh-aarambh” (auspicious beginning) of a new era. PM Modi conveyed his wishes, along with that of the 1.4 billion Indians, to Shukla.
The duo also shared a laughter over the ‘gajar ka halwa’ (carrot dessert) that Shukla has taken with him to the Space Station. “Did you and the other astronauts eat gajar ka halwa there?” the PM asked, with Shukla responding that they ate the dessert, along with the other sweet dishes that he carried with himself. After Axiom-4’s successful launch, PM Modi had congratulated and wished success to Shukla, the mission pilot, and other crew members: Mission commander Peggy Whitson, and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
The Prime Minister had highlighted that Shukla, who was on his way to become the first Indian astronaut aboard the ISS, carried with him the “wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians”. The Axiom-4 mission’s Dragon spacecraft successfully completed docking on Thursday, marking the official beginning of its crew’s two-week stay on the Space Station. During their stay, the mission crew will carry out scientific experiments, technology demonstrations, and education outreach activities in a microgravity environment.
Shubhanshu Shukla will lead seven of the 60 experiments the mission crew will perform on board the ISS. Axiom-4 mission marks the successful collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), fulfilling a commitment made by US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send the first Indian astronaut to the Space Station.
Meanwhile, Shukla, in his first message from the ISS, expressed gratitude and said, “It is a privilege to be here”. He added that the two weeks of stay at the station are going to be amazing. “Whatever expectations I had of coming here were surpassed by the view, of course, that is a big part of it, but also by you guys,” the Indian astronaut said. “I think this is fantastic, this is wonderful and I am very confident that the next 14 days are going to be amazing, advancing science and research, and working together,” he added.
