Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla, an Indian Air Force officer, has been selected as the pilot for Axiom Mission 4, set for Spring 2025. This mission marks a significant milestone as it will be India's first government-sponsored human spaceflight in over 40 years. Shukla will join Commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
Shukla's journey began in June 2006 when he joined the IAF fighter wing. With over 2,000 flight hours on various aircraft, he became a group captain in March 2024. In 2019, he started training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia. In February 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Shukla as a key astronaut for India's Gaganyaan mission, scheduled for 2025.
India's space sector has seen remarkable growth, with achievements like the Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing and the Aditya L1 Solar Mission. ISRO has also advanced its Gaganyaan program and launched the GSLV-F15, marking its 100th launch from Sriharikota. Future plans include an Indian space station by 2035.
Axiom Mission 4 is a space mission organized by Axiom Space, a company that plans to send people to space. This mission will take place in Spring 2025 and involves astronauts from different countries.
Peggy Whitson is a former astronaut from NASA, which is the space agency of the United States. She has been to space several times and is very experienced in space missions.
The Indian Air Force is a branch of the Indian Armed Forces responsible for defending India's airspace. Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla is an officer in this force.
The Gaganyaan mission is India's first human spaceflight program, aiming to send Indian astronauts to space. It is a significant project for India's space exploration efforts.
A space station is a large spacecraft where astronauts can live and work for long periods. India plans to have its own space station by the year 2035.
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