Shubhanshu Shukla Meets Prime Minister Modi and Presents Tricolour from Space Mission

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, India's first astronaut to the ISS, met PM Modi and gifted him the Indian tricolour that travelled to space during the Axiom-4 mission.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS). Shukla, who participated in the Axiom-4 commercial mission from 25 June to 15 July, visited Modi at his Lok Kalyan Marg residence. The Prime Minister warmly welcomed Shukla, who wore an ISRO astronaut jacket, with a hug and walked with him.

During their meeting, Shukla presented Modi with the mission patch from Axiom-4 and an Indian tricolour he had taken to the ISS. This flag was visible in the background when Shukla spoke with Modi on 29 June. "Had a great interaction with Shubhanshu Shukla. We discussed a wide range of subjects including his experiences in space, progress in science & technology as well as India's ambitious Gaganyaan mission. India is proud of his feat," Modi shared in a post on X.

Shukla's Space Mission and Contributions

Shukla was part of the Axiom-4 private space mission that launched from Florida on 25 June and docked at the ISS on 26 June. He returned to Earth on 15 July. During this mission, he collaborated with three other astronauts: Peggy Whitson from the US, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. Together, they conducted over 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions during their 20-day stay.

The Lucknow-born astronaut also showed Prime Minister Modi pictures he had taken from the ISS using a tablet computer. "Met with the Hon PM today. Last time I spoke to him virtually was from Orbit with this same flag in the background on the @iss," Shukla posted on X, sharing a photo of himself presenting a framed national tricolour to Modi.

Documenting for Future Missions

On 29 June, during the early days of the Axiom-4 mission, Prime Minister Modi interacted with Shukla and requested him to document his experiences at the ISS. This documentation would aid India's future missions, including Gaganyaan. Shukla returned to India on Sunday after completing his mission.

In an earlier press interaction this month, Shukla mentioned fulfilling Modi's task of documenting every aspect of his mission for India's Gaganyaan programme. "I remember very well the homework given to me by the prime minister. And I completed it very well. I am very excited to come back and share it with you all. I am confident that all that knowledge is going to prove extremely useful and crucial for us, for our own Gaganyaan mission," Shukla stated on 1 August.

Shukla expressed immense pride in representing India during his orbital interaction with Prime Minister Modi. "I cannot describe how proud I felt that day interaction from Orbit representing Bharat and today when I was speaking to the PM @narendramodi. Like I said this is just the first step in Bharat's journey of human spaceflight," Shukla said.

With inputs from PTI