Bangabarta Bureau PIX-XYZ Gaganyaan astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has shared details of his two-week mission to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Axiom-4 mission, stating that the experience will be "extremely useful" for India's own human spaceflight programs.
In a statement, Group Captain Shukla described the mission, which flew on a Falcon 9 rocket. He noted that the Crew Dragon capsule, in which he served as Mission Pilot, is one of only three vehicles currently capable of carrying humans into space.
He elaborated on his role, saying he worked with the mission commander and was responsible for interacting with the Crew Dragon’s systems. During his two-week stay on the ISS, his team’s primary job was to perform experiments conceived by Indian researchers, conduct STEM demonstrations, and capture photographs and videos.
Highlighting the long-term benefits of the mission, Group Captain Shukla said, “All the information I have collected in the past year will be extremely useful to us for our own missions, Gaganyaan and Bharatiya Antariksh Station.” He concluded with a forward-looking vision for India’s space ambitions: “Very soon, we shall see somebody travelling from our capsule, our rocket, and from our soil.”
