Shubhanshu Shukla Becomes First Indian Aboard the International Space Station

Air Force Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla Creates History as First Indian to Enter ISS.

Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla etched his name in history on Thursday by becoming the first Indian to step into the International Space Station (ISS), marking a significant milestone in India’s space journey.

Live visuals from the ISS showed Shukla and his three crewmates emerging from the Crew Dragon capsule, grinning as they were welcomed with hugs by the seven astronauts already aboard the station. The four newcomers, part of the Axiom-4 private space mission, later posed for photographs while sipping drinks from foil packets—an iconic tradition for new arrivals.

Their spacecraft, Grace, docked with the ISS after a 28-hour journey from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, completing a complex sequence of orbital maneuvers. The docking, confirmed at 4:15 PM IST, followed a “soft capture” at 4:01 PM, allowing the capsule and station to absorb the initial kinetic impact before a “hard capture” locked the connection firmly in place.

“This is an honor… thank you,” said Mission Commander Peggy Whitson during a live stream, as NASA confirmed the docking.

Shukla, along with Whitson, Slawosz Uznanski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary, will wait for final pressurization checks before the ISS hatch officially opens at 6:10 PM IST. The delay ensures there are no leaks or pressure mismatches that could endanger crew safety.

A Journey Decades in the Making
Axiom-4’s journey launched from Launch Complex 39A—the same iconic site that once carried Apollo 11 into space. The lift-off had faced six delays, nearly a seventh, due to a software glitch that briefly interrupted the upload of weather data. But when the countdown hit zero at 12:01 PM IST on Wednesday, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 ignited, propelling the crew into orbit with its powerful Merlin engines.

Reflecting on the moment, Shukla called the experience “magical.”

“After 30 days of quarantine and all the delays, I just wanted to go. When it finally happened… you’re pushed into your seat and then suddenly—there’s silence. You’re floating. And it’s magical,” Shukla said from orbit.

14 Days of Science and Discovery
The team faces a packed 14-day schedule aboard the ISS, conducting 60 scientific experiments, including seven from India. Among them is a study on tardigrades, or ‘water bears,’ to understand how microscopic life responds to microgravity.

Other experiments will explore bio-manufacturing and bio-astronautics, areas crucial to long-term space travel and habitation.

Shukla expressed gratitude to the global team of scientists and engineers who made the mission possible.

“This is a collective achievement. I’m thankful to every individual who played a part in making this journey real,” he said.