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"ISRO Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to Pilot NASA's Private Axiom Mission 4 and Becoming First Indian to Travel to ISS".

Science and Technology | Dated: 03 Feb 2025

In January 2025, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) astronaut and Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, was named the pilot for Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), a private spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS).

🎯 Key Highlights:

  • - With this announcement, he will become the first Indian astronaut to travel to the ISS on a private mission and the first Indian in the past 40 years to journey into space.
  • - Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla was commissioned into the IAF on June 17, 2006, and is a fighter combat leader and test pilot with nearly 2000 hours of flying experience, having flown a variety of aircraft including the Su-30 MKI, MIG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and more.
  • - He was promoted to Wing Commander in June 2019 and Group Captain of the IAF in 2024, and is also one of the four astronaut-designates selected for India's ambitious Gaganyaan mission.

💡 Other Important Facts:

  • (i) In 2023, NASA signed a mission order with Texas-based Axiom Space, an American space infrastructure developer, for the 4th private astronaut mission, Axiom Mission (Ax-4) to the ISS, with Axiom Space contracting SpaceX as the launch provider for transportation to and from the space station.
  • (ii) The mission is scheduled to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, in 2025, and will dock with the ISS for 14 days to conduct scientific experiments, educational outreach, and commercial activities as part of the collaboration between NASA and ISRO.
  • (iii) The Ax-4 mission crew includes Peggy Whitson (USA), a former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, as the mission commander, along with Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland, ESA) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) as mission specialists.

📚 Test Your Knowledge:

Who has recently been named the pilot for NASA's Private Axiom Mission 4?

Correct Answer: Shubhanshu Shukla

🚀 Quick Recap:

About ISRO

  • Founder: Vikram Sarabhai
  • Headquarters: Bengaluru