Shubhanshu Shukla :- it was just past noon in India The Falcon 9 rocket thundered off to space taking off from the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Back in India the whole country was brimming with pride Millions watching the launch live After all 41 years had passed since India last sent one of its own into space And this was not just another space mission It was a homecoming On board this Axiom 4 mission was the group captain Shabbanu Shukla .
He is piloting this mission Shabbanju Shukla is the second to achieve this feat 41 years ago Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel to space It was the height of the cold war The Soviet Union offered India a seat on the Sawyer spacecraft Sharma spent seven days aboard the Salute 7 space station He conducted experiments He gazed at India from the Earth’s orbit and said the words we all remember That was in 1984 India was a young economy still finding its footing .
The Cold War was simmering The idea of an Indian-made rocket carrying an Indian astronaut into space that was the stuff of science fiction For decades it stayed that way Other nations raced to the moon Space became a playground for billionaires Private rockets took over the skies But India built its space program quietly and patiently one launch at a time And the Indian Space Agency has since achieved a lot But the dream of putting another Indian in space was still a dream until now Human space program was born in Lacnau in 1985.
He came of age in a very different India than that of Rakesh Sharma an India of liberalized markets and Shandrean missions He joined the Indian Air Force in 2006 Quickly he built a reputation as a fearless pilot Over nearly two decades he flew everything from MiGs and Sukoys logging over 2,000 flying hours In the last few years India began scouting astronauts for Gaganyan Now that is the country’s first human spaceflight mission Shukla was one of four people shortlisted Now his resume made him an ideal candidate Physically resilient mentally sharp and used to high stakes flying.
That training would pay off when I Israel negotiated a historic seat on Axiom Space’s AX4 mission Shabbanu Shukla got India’s ticket back to the stars which brings us to the AX4 mission It’s led by NASA legend Peggy Witson It is a collaboration between a lot of agencies Axiom Space NASA ISRO the European Space Agency and SpaceX The crew includes four astronauts including two others from Poland and Hungary Shukla will now spend the next two weeks on the International Space Station.
The crew will conduct 60 scientific experiments Seven of them are from India ISRO’s experiments will understand microgravity and the effect of space on biology Shukla will even speak to Indian school children from space And this is quite a significant moment After all India’s first rockets were transported on bicycles Satellite parts were once hauled on bulock carts When Israel launched its first satellite in 1975 the world laughed India’s space program was mocked but India’s space agency persisted In 2008 India launched its first moon mission Shandrean 1 In 2013 it sent a probe to Mars In 2023 it landed on the moon’s south pole.
and now it is planning the Ganganyan mission Group Captain Shukla’s mission is a vital test run for that The data he brings back will shape the future of Gaganyan Right now India’s space economy is worth $8 billion By 2033 it hopes to grow to $44 billion And it is not just Israel There are private space companies too Since 2020 over 200 space startups have emerged in India And there are missions lined up India is expected to fly its first uncrrewed Ganganyan test soon.
And the crude mission should be following on in 2026 or 2027 Our permanent Indian space station is targeted for 2035 A moon landing with astronauts is planned for 2040 All of this on a fraction of NASA’s budget The last time India sent a human to space it was still finding its place in the world This time it’s shaping the future Shubanchu Shukla is just the prologue in India’s space story because space is no longer the playground of a few and India is no longer waiting for a seat at the table It is building its own