Shubhanshu Shukla will be first Indian to reach orbit in more than 40 years as country works to join global space race
The first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station is due to blast off as part of an effort by the world’s most populous nation to catch up with the US, Russia and China in human space flight missions.
Shubhanshu Shukla, a 39-year-old air force fighter pilot, is one of a four-person mission launching on Tuesday from the US with the private company Axiom Space, which is using a SpaceX capsule.
He will be the first Indian astronaut to reach orbit in more than four decades after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 flight aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft.
“I truly believe that even though, as an individual, I am travelling to space, this is the journey of 1.4 billion people,” Shukla was quoted as saying by the Hindu newspaper this year. Shukla said he hoped to “ignite the curiosity of an entire generation in my country”.
