Shubhanshu Shukla Docks At ISS Along With Crew Members In Historic Axiom 4 Mission: 'Namaskaar From Space'

The Dragon capsule of the Axiom 4 Mission, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three crewmates, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday at 4.30 pm IST.

Shukla and the rest of the crew launched aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, propelled by a Falcon 9 rocket, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday.

Photo Credit: AP/PTI

The team will spend 14 days on the ISS conducting scientific research in a microgravity environment.

This mission makes Shukla only the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma, and the first to reach the ISS in over four decades. Sharma spent eight days aboard the Soviet Union's Salyut-7 station in 1984.

Ahead of the launch, Shukla expressed hope that his journey would inspire future generations, much like Sharma's voyage did in the past.

Sending a message from orbit, Shukla said adjusting to weightlessness felt "like learning to live again, like a baby," describing the experience of floating in space as "amazing." Reflecting on the 30-day quarantine period before launch, he said, "All I could think was - just let us go."

The launch lit up the Florida night sky, with the Falcon 9 rocket trailing a brilliant yellow plume as it ascended. Live footage showed the astronauts calmly seated in their sleek black-and-white suits, strapped into the pressurised capsule as they headed towards low Earth orbit.

About Axiom 4 Mission

The Axiom 4 Mission's Crew Dragon spacecraft completed a 28-hour journey to the ISS, docking with the orbiting laboratory while both vehicles cruised approximately 400 km (250 miles) above Earth.

Upon arrival, the Axiom 4 astronauts were welcomed by the ISS's seven current inhabitants - three NASA astronauts, one Japanese astronaut, and three Russian cosmonauts.

The four-member Axiom 4 team is led by 65-year-old Peggy Whitson, a veteran NASA astronaut and now Director of Human Spaceflight at Axiom Space. Her fellow crew members include Shubhanshu Shukla (39) from India, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (41) from Poland, and Tibor Kapu (33) from Hungary.

This is the fourth mission from Houston-based Axiom Space since 2022, as the company expands its programme of private and international crewed flights to low Earth orbit.

For India, Poland, and Hungary, this flight marks a momentous return to human space exploration after more than 40 years, and their first mission to the ISS.

Mission commander Whitson holds the US record for most cumulative time spent in space - 675 days - across four missions. She was NASA's first female chief astronaut and the first woman to command the ISS. She also led the Axiom 2 Mission in 2023.

Wednesday's launch marked SpaceX's 18th human spaceflight, continuing its partnership with NASA that began in 2020, restoring America's capability to launch astronauts from its own territory following the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011.

Axiom Space - co-founded by a former head of NASA's ISS programme - is among a handful of companies currently developing a commercial space station to replace the ISS, which is expected to be retired around 2030.