June 28, 2025
By Saurabh
Born in 1985 in Lucknow, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla grew up watching fighter jets and dreaming big. Inspired by the Kargil War, his journey from a small city to space is nothing short of remarkable.
At just 16, Shukla quietly left home on the day of his sister’s wedding, to appear for the National Defence Academy entrance exam. That bold decision set him on a path to the skies.
Commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 2006, he became a decorated test pilot. With over 2,000 flight hours on aircraft like the Su-30 MKI and MiG-29, Shukla earned the callsign “Shux.”
In 2019, Shukla was selected as one of four astronauts for India’s first human spaceflight, Gaganyaan. He underwent intense training in Russia and earned a master’s in aerospace engineering from IISc, Bengaluru.
In a major milestone, he was named pilot for Axiom Mission 4, a private spaceflight to the International Space Station in collaboration with ISRO, NASA, and SpaceX.
On June 25, 2025, Shukla launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Florida. The next day, the crew successfully docked with the ISS, making him the first Indian to reach the station.
Now aboard the ISS, he is part of a multinational crew conducting over 60 science experiments. Shukla’s mission marks a new chapter for India in human space exploration.