Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jun 26: In a landmark moment for Indian space exploration, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, marking the first time an Indian has reached the orbiting laboratory in over four decades.
Shukla’s arrival makes him the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma’s iconic mission in 1984, and the first Indian astronaut to set foot on the ISS.
The achievement comes as part of Axiom Space’s AX-4 mission, which launched earlier in the day aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft 'Grace'. The docking was confirmed at 6:30 a.m. ET (4:00 p.m. IST) to the Harmony module's space-facing port. Alongside Shukla, the international crew includes Commander Peggy Whitson (USA), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary).
“Docking confirmed!” announced SpaceX on social platform X, celebrating the successful rendezvous.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:31 a.m. EDT (12 noon IST). Moments after reaching orbit, Group Captain Shukla shared his first impressions from space.
“Namaskar from space! What a ride it was,” he said in a message from the ISS. “As I sat in the capsule, the only thought in my mind was: let's just go. Then came the liftoff — you feel this huge push. And suddenly, nothing. You're just floating. It’s incredible.”
Adapting to microgravity, he quipped, “I’m learning like a baby — how to walk and eat in space.”
A nod to his roots, Shukla brought along a taste of home — carrot halwa, moong dal halwa, and mango nectar — as part of his personal food stash in space.
But the mission is far more than symbolic. Once aboard the ISS, Shukla will lead a series of cutting-edge experiments focused on space nutrition, in a collaborative effort between ISRO, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and with support from NASA.
A major research focus will be the behaviour of edible microalgae in space — organisms seen as vital to future space travel due to their rich nutritional profile. Shukla will study how microgravity and space radiation impact algal growth, genetic expression, and nutrient composition, compared to their Earth-bound counterparts.
These experiments are designed to further understanding of sustainable life-support systems, a crucial step toward enabling long-duration space missions in the future.
The AX-4 mission, featuring India’s presence for the first time aboard the ISS, underscores the nation’s growing influence in the global space community and its commitment to scientific innovation and technological leadership.