'India's cosmic takeover': Axiom appoints Indian-origin CEO as ISRO's Shubhanshu Shukla prepares for historic space visit

A new leadership at Axiom Space

Axiom Space has appointed Indian-origin executive Tejpaul Bhatia as its new Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Executive Chairman and Co-founder Kam Ghaffarian.

Tejpaul Bhatia’s background

Bhatia served as Axiom’s Chief Revenue Officer for four years. He is a technology leader with over two decades of experience and has founded three investor-backed start-ups, two of which were acquired.

Bhatia’s achievements at Axiom

Since joining Axiom in 2021, Bhatia secured over $1 billion in contracts, arranged the first sovereign government purchases of private astronaut missions, and led partnerships like the spacesuit collaboration with Prada for NASA’s Artemis III mission.

Timing for the announcement

The leadership change comes just weeks before the launch of an Indian astronaut, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, on Axiom’s Ax-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Shubhanshu Shukla: India's ISS pilot

Group Captain Shukla will serve as the pilot of the Ax-4 mission, marking India’s first human presence on the ISS and the country’s first space traveller in 40 years.

Mission details: Ax-4 launch

The Ax-4 mission will launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in 2025. The crew will spend 14 days aboard the ISS, conducting scientific experiments during their stay.

Shukla’s training journey

Shukla completed astronaut training at Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in 2021 and continued further training at the Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru upon his return to India.