Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force is set to become the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4). Scheduled for launch on June 10, 2025, this marks India's return to human spaceflight after over four decades.

Key Points:

• Shubhanshu Shukla will fly aboard Axiom Mission 4, becoming the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma's 1984 mission.
• The Ax-4 mission is scheduled to launch on June 10, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
• The 14-day mission will dock with the ISS on June 11 and involves collaboration between NASA, SpaceX, Axiom Space, and ISRO.
• Shukla is a seasoned IAF test pilot with over 2,000 hours of flying experience and was among the Gaganyaan program trainees.
• The Ax-4 crew includes Peggy Whitson (Commander, USA), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), with Shukla serving as the mission pilot.