Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla to fly to ISS on Axiom's Ax-4 mission, Jitendra Singh announces
Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced on 18 April 2025, after an ISRO review meeting, that IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla would fly to the International Space Station on Axiom Space's Ax-4 mission, then scheduled for May 2025.
Summary
After a high-level review of ISRO's upcoming plans on 18 April 2025, Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced that an international space mission carrying an Indian astronaut was scheduled for the following month. ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force would fly to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Axiom Space's Ax-4 mission, then scheduled for May 2025. He would be the first Indian to visit the ISS and the first Indian astronaut in space since Rakesh Sharma's 1984 flight aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. Shukla was shortlisted under ISRO's Human Spaceflight Programme.
Key facts
- Astronaut
- Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, IAF
- Mission
- Axiom Space Ax-4 to the ISS
- Schedule (as of 18 Apr 2025)
- May 2025
- Firsts
- First Indian to visit ISS; first Indian in space since 1984
- Previous Indian in space
- Rakesh Sharma, 1984, Soviet Soyuz
Practice MCQs 2 questions
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla's flight to the ISS, announced in April 2025, was to be part of which mission?
Show answer
Correct answer: C — Axiom Space's Ax-4
Axiom Space's Ax-4 mission, as stated by the ISRO Chairman at the review.
Shubhanshu Shukla's mission would make him the first Indian astronaut in space since whose 1984 flight aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft?
Show answer
Correct answer: A — Rakesh Sharma
Rakesh Sharma flew in 1984 aboard a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft.