Axiom-4 mission: Shubhanshu Shukla’s Family welcomed at Lucknow school before liftoff; father calls it his ‘most joyous day’

NEW DELHI: The family of Indian Air Force Group Captain and astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla was welcomed on Wednesday to the school he once attended in Lucknow, just hours before his scheduled spaceflight.Group Captain Shukla is all set to lift off at 12:01pm IST from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida as pilot of the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), a 14-day journey to the International Space Station. The mission includes representatives from Hungary and Poland.Speaking at the event, Shukla’s father, Shambhu Dayal Shukla, said: "This feels great. I feel very proud and fortunate that I am the father of such a child. This is the most joyous day of my life."

This flight marks a significant moment for India, coming 41 years after Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to go to space. India’s human spaceflight ambitions are now focused on the upcoming Gaganyaan programme, which targets a crewed mission by 2027. Shukla’s experience on Ax-4 is expected to be valuable for the mission.India has already demonstrated its capabilities with missions like the Mars orbiter and the Chandrayaan landing near the lunar south pole.

Human spaceflight represents the next major leap.Group Captain Shukla has often spoken of his admiration for Sharma, who travelled to space aboard a Soviet spacecraft in 1984. Speaking in an Axiom video, he described the Ax-4 team as “fantastic” and said he hopes the mission will inspire young people back home.

“It has been an amazing journey. I want to use this opportunity to ignite curiosity among kids. Even if this story, my story, is able to change one life, it would be a huge success for me,” Shukla said.The Ax-4 crew includes US astronaut Peggy Whitson, Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu. The mission is being carried out by Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA, ISRO, and the European Space Agency.India’s Department of Space described the mission as a reflection of the country’s growing role in international space partnerships and its resolve to emerge as a contender in human space exploration.