Shukla will use the X-33 Skywalker inside the spacecraft and the Moonwatch for spacewalks. Both are specially calibrated for the demands of space missions.

Shubhanshu Shukla will use the X-33 Skywalker inside the spacecraft and the Moonwatch for spacewalks. Both are specially calibrated for the demands of space missions.

ISRO's Shubhanshu Shukla: This luxury watch will be worn by Indian astronaut during his visit to space

As Shubhanshu Shukla readies to become the second Indian in space, a look back at the journey of the first—Rakesh Sharma. Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma ventured into space more than four decades ago, in April 1984.

Revisiting Rakesh Sharma’s space legacy as ISRO's Shubhanshu Shukla prepares for Axiom-4 mission (In pics)

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is preparing to head to space as part of the Ax-4 mission. His recent training involved simulating space like low pressure conditions to prepare for emergencies in orbit.

ISRO's Shubhanshu Shukla goes through toughest space training for Ax-4 mission! Know all about it

Shubhanshu Shukla is a Group Captain in the Indian Air Force and one of the four astronauts selected for India’s historic Gaganyaan Mission. Born on October 10, 1985.

Who is Shubhanshu Shukla? Things to know about Indian astronaut going to space this month

Group Captain, India's Shubhanshu Shukla, part of the Ax-4 crew, will conduct seven scientific experiments developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation during his 14-day stay aboard the International Space Station. 

Axiom-4 Mission: ISRO's Shubhanshu Shukla to conduct 7 microgravity experiments in space

On 29th May 2025, Indian Air Force fighter pilot-turned-astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will launch to space from the American Spaceport in Florida. Shukla will be flying as part of the American commercial mission Axiom-4. Shukla will also be the first Indian astronaut to fly to the International Space Station, an orbiting lab that is 425 km above the earth. WION&rsquo;s Sidharth M.P. had exclusively reported about this May-month spaceflight, back in January 2025.
Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/exclusive-indian-astronaut-shuks-to-fly-to-space-in-may-2025-8676223">Exclusive: Indian astronaut &lsquo;Shuks&rsquo; to fly to space in May 2025</a>
Axiom-4 will carry a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station, where they would stay for two weeks and perform 60 experiments. The astronauts would be flying on the SpaceX Falcon9 rocket and the Crew Dragon capsule. This mission will facilitate the return to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, given that each nation&rsquo;s first and only government-sponsored spaceflight had taken place more than 40 years ago. The Ax-4 crewmembers will represent their nations in Low Earth Orbit and perform scientific experiments and demonstrations that are of high national importance.
This Axiom-4 mission is a result of deepening Indo-US Space cooperation, which came to the fore during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s State visit to the United States in June 2023. Back then, President Biden had announced Indo-US collaboration on human spaceflight and the mission to send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station, marking the highest point in India-US space ties.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the Axiom-4 mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
<h2>How will Axiom-4 help India&rsquo;s Gaganyaan Human Spaceflight programme?</h2>
Gaganyaan is India&rsquo;s attempt at launching its astronauts to space and returning them safely, using an indigenously developed rocket, spacecraft, and supporting technologies. Gaganyaan was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, and it is the first step in a series of sustained human spaceflight missions that the Indian Space agency ISRO wants to carry out in a phased manner. By the end of this decade, India hopes to put an uncrewed space station in Earth orbit. By 2035, it would be used as a crewed Indian outpost that&rsquo;s circling the earth. By 2040, India is targeting a crewed moon landing, a feat that only America has accomplished back in 1969, and China hopes to accomplish by the end of this decade.
Gaganyaan would be carried out by the Indian Space Agency ISRO, with test pilots of the Indian Air Force, serving as the crew members. The four candidates&mdash;Group Captains Prashant Balakrishnan Nair, Shubhanshu Shukla, Ajit Krishnan, and Angad Pratap&mdash;had completed their training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Moscow, in 2021. Since then, they have also undergone several theoretical and practical sessions at ISRO&rsquo;s Human Spaceflight Centre and the Indian Air Force&rsquo;s Institute of Aerospace Medicine. They have also been visiting various ISRO centres, such as ISRO&rsquo;s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.&nbsp; WION had exclusively reported that Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair have been training at facilities in the US, Europe, and Japan, in preparation for Axiom-4. For Axiom-4, the primary Indian candidate is Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Ajit Krishnan is the backup candidate.&nbsp;
Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/exclusive-indian-astronauts-shukla-nair-trained-in-us-eu-japan-8927101">Exclusive: Indian astronauts Shukla, Nair trained in US, EU, Japan</a>
The Axiom-4 mission is meant to serve as a precursor to India&rsquo;s Gaganyaan, as Shukla&rsquo;s spaceflight would help India gain contemporary spaceflight experience, valuable technological and experiential insights. While serving as ISRO Chief, Dr. S. Somanath had explained to WION that human spaceflight is a highly challenging endeavour and that India only had the limited experience of Rakesh Sharma's flight in 1984. He had added that the Indian astronaut (Shukla) flying to the International space station would immensely benefit the Gaganyaan programme. Notably, the maiden spaceflight by an Indian was on a Soviet-era Soyuz T-11 spacecraft, and since then the technologies have changed drastically. Presently, in America, SpaceX is the lone entity that has a track record of reliably ferrying astronauts to the space station on their Crew Dragon craft, while Boeing faces technical trouble with their Starliner craft.

India News: Axiom-4 will carry a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station, where they would stay for two weeks and perform 60 experiments. The astronauts would be flying on the SpaceX Falcon9 rocket and the Crew Dragon capsule.

On 29th May 2025, Indian Air Force fighter pilot-turned-astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will launch to space from the American Spaceport in Florida. Shukla will be flying as part of the American commercial mission Axiom-4. Shukla will also be the first Indian astronaut to fly to the International Space Station, an orbiting lab that is 425 km above the earth. WION’s Sidharth M.P. had exclusively reported about this May-month spaceflight, back in January 2025. Also Read | Exclusive: Indian astronaut ‘Shuks’ to fly to space in May 2025 Axiom-4 will carry a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station, where they would stay for two weeks and perform 60 experiments. The astronauts would be flying on the SpaceX Falcon9 rocket and the Crew Dragon capsule. This mission will facilitate the return to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, given that each nation’s first and only government-sponsored spaceflight had taken place more than 40 years ago. The Ax-4 crewmembers will represent their nations in Low Earth Orbit and perform scientific experiments and demonstrations that are of high national importance. This Axiom-4 mission is a result of deepening Indo-US Space cooperation, which came to the fore during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s State visit to the United States in June 2023. Back then, President Biden had announced Indo-US collaboration on human spaceflight and the mission to send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station, marking the highest point in India-US space ties. Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the Axiom-4 mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. How will Axiom-4 help India’s Gaganyaan Human Spaceflight programme? Gaganyaan is India’s attempt at launching its astronauts to space and returning them safely, using an indigenously developed rocket, spacecraft, and supporting technologies. Gaganyaan was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, and it is the first step in a series of sustained human spaceflight missions that the Indian Space agency ISRO wants to carry out in a phased manner. By the end of this decade, India hopes to put an uncrewed space station in Earth orbit. By 2035, it would be used as a crewed Indian outpost that’s circling the earth. By 2040, India is targeting a crewed moon landing, a feat that only America has accomplished back in 1969, and China hopes to accomplish by the end of this decade. Gaganyaan would be carried out by the Indian Space Agency ISRO, with test pilots of the Indian Air Force, serving as the crew members. The four candidates—Group Captains Prashant Balakrishnan Nair, Shubhanshu Shukla, Ajit Krishnan, and Angad Pratap—had completed their training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Moscow, in 2021. Since then, they have also undergone several theoretical and practical sessions at ISRO’s Human Spaceflight Centre and the Indian Air Force’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine. They have also been visiting various ISRO centres, such as ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. WION had exclusively reported that Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair have been training at facilities in the US, Europe, and Japan, in preparation for Axiom-4. For Axiom-4, the primary Indian candidate is Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Ajit Krishnan is the backup candidate. Also Read | Exclusive: Indian astronauts Shukla, Nair trained in US, EU, Japan The Axiom-4 mission is meant to serve as a precursor to India’s Gaganyaan, as Shukla’s spaceflight would help India gain contemporary spaceflight experience, valuable technological and experiential insights. While serving as ISRO Chief, Dr. S. Somanath had explained to WION that human spaceflight is a highly challenging endeavour and that India only had the limited experience of Rakesh Sharma's flight in 1984. He had added that the Indian astronaut (Shukla) flying to the International space station would immensely benefit the Gaganyaan programme. Notably, the maiden spaceflight by an Indian was on a Soviet-era Soyuz T-11 spacecraft, and since then the technologies have changed drastically. Presently, in America, SpaceX is the lone entity that has a track record of reliably ferrying astronauts to the space station on their Crew Dragon craft, while Boeing faces technical trouble with their Starliner craft.

Indian astronaut Gp Capt Shukla to fly to space on 29th May

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will travel to the International Space Station in May as a part of Axiom Space’s upcoming Ax-4 mission, making him the first Indian to participate in an international commercial spaceflight to the ISS.

'Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29 and more': Take a look at the aviation legacy of ISRO's Shubhanshu Shukla

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is set to make history as the second Indian to travel to space. As part of the Axiom-4 mission, he will fly to the International Space Station in May, marking India’s return to space after 41 years. Shukla, an Indian Air Force fighter pilot, is ready to represent India on this historic mission.

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to fly to ISS in May

Indian astronaut and Air Force test pilot Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will be the second Indian to travel to space. His space travel is to take place this year, almost 41 years after India's first astronaut Rakesh Sharma flew on a Soviet mission. Here's all you need to know on the US-led Axiom-4 mission

Indian to return to space after 41yrs

Indian Air Force (IAF) group captain Shubhanshu Shukla has been selected as the pilot for Axiom Mission 4, NASA announced on Thursday. Watch this report for more details!

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to pilot Axiom-4 to space