IAF asks Shubhanshu Shukla To ‘Touch The Sky With Glory'

New Delhi: Ahead of the Axiom Space Mission 4, the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday wished Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, to ‘touch the sky with glory’.

With the success of the flight, Shukla will become the first Indian to set foot on the International Space Station (ISS). He will also be the second to go to space after Rakesh Sharma flew to space station Salyut 7 in 1984.

The US-based Axiom Space is scheduled to carry Shukla along with three others, to the ISS from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on June 11 at 8 a.m. ET (5.30 p.m. IST). The mission was initially scheduled for launch on May 29, but was later deferred to June 8 and then June 10.

“As Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla prepares to embark on the Axiom-4 space mission tomorrow, the Chief of the Air Staff and all Air Warriors of IAF wish him and the entire crew of Axiom-4 all the best for a safe and successful trip to the International Space Station,” the Indian Air Force - Media Co-ordination Centre, shared in a post on social media platform X.

“This will add a new chapter to the Indian Space Odyssey. Touch the sky with glory!” the post added.

Shukla will pilot the mission alongside Commander Peggy Whitson from the US. Other crew members include mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary).

Air Vice Marshal Sanjay Bhatnagar VM VSM (Retd) called Shukla an inspiration.

The IAF officer is the youngest astronaut-designate under India's Gaganyaan mission -- the country’s first human spaceflight mission.