"Shubhanshu Shukla carrying aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians": PM Modi
Mangalore Today News Network
New Delhi, June 25, 2025: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla carries with him the wishes, hopes, and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi as India took a cosmic leap this afternoon with the Indian astronaut lifting off for the International Space Station (ISS).
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the four-crewed Crew Dragon capsule blasted off at 12:05 pm (IST) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"We welcome the successful launch of the Space Mission carrying astronauts from India, Hungary, Poland and the US. The Indian Astronaut, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is on the way to become the first Indian to go to International Space Station. He carries with him the wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians," said PM Modi.
The Prime Minister also wished success to Group Captain Shukla, the spacecraft pilot, and the three other astronauts, mission commander Dr Peggy Whitson of the US, and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
His remarks follow President Droupadi Murmu comparing the mission, whose four crew members are from different countries, with the Sanskrit phrase "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", meaning the world is one big family.
"As Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla creates a new milestone in space for India, the whole nation is excited and proud of an Indian’s journey into the stars. He and his fellow astronauts of Axiom Mission 4 from the US, Poland, and Hungary prove the world is indeed one family - ’Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’," said President Murmu.
The wide-ranging experiments to be performed by the crew will lead to new frontiers of scientific studies and space exploration, she added.
The Axiom-4 mission is a commercial venture between the Houston-based Axiom Space and NASA. During their 14-day mission, the astronauts will conduct 60 scientific experiments, seven of which have been proposed by Indian researchers.
Group Captain Shukla, who has become the second Indian astronaut to travel to space over 40 years after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 feat, will also participate in a space-to-earth outreach programme and will likely interact with a VIP from space as well.
The mission, referred to as Mission Akash Ganga, paves the way for India’s first human spaceflight. "This is the start of India’s human space program. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat," the Group Captain said in his first message from the orbit after a successful lift-off.