Shubhanshu Shukla becomes first Indian to reach ISS, shares excitement, says, ‘next 14 days will be...’

India's Shubhanshu Shukla and three other astronauts reached the International Space Station on Thursday as the Dragon spacecraft docked to the orbital laboratory after a 28-hour journey around the earth. The new spacecraft -- fifth in the Dragon series, named Grace -- achieved a soft capture with the space station at 4:01 pm IST over the North Atlantic ocean. This is the first time an Indian astronaut has travelled to the International Space Station. 

“At 6:31 am EDT (4:01 IST) on Thursday, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station for the fourth private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 4,” the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced in a statement. A live videolink from NASA showed the spacecraft approaching the space station. The docking sequence was completed at 4:15 pm IST. 

Shubhanshu Shukla expresses excitement

After landing, Shukla, who is piloting Axiom Mission4, said, “Namaskar from space! I am thrilled to be here with my fellow astronauts. What a ride it was.” He also said, “The minute I entered the International Space Station and met this crew, you just made me feel so welcome, as if you literally opened your doors, like your house doors, for us. It's a privilege to be among the few who have had the chance to see Earth from this vantage point.” 

June 26, 2025

After the soft capture of the spacecraft, the hard-mating was completed when the two orbiting bodies were connected with 12 sets of hooks with each other and communication and power links were established. The hatch-opening procedures take about two hours before the astronauts walk on board the space station. Veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson is the mission commander and Shukla is the mission pilot for the Axiom-4 mission. 

Shukla, a test pilot with the Indian Air Force, is the second Indian to go to space and the first since Rakesh Sharma's eight-day sojourn in 1984. Polish engineer Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, a mission specialist and a European Space Agency project astronaut, will be the second person from his country to travel to space and the first since 1978. 

Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer and mission specialist, will be the second Hungarian astronaut to rocket into space. Hungary's last space mission was 45 years ago. The astronauts, part of the Axiom-4 mission, embarked on the journey to the space station from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Wednesday. 

The space station has seven astronauts -- Nicole Ayers, Anne McClain and Jonny Kim from the NASA, Takuya Onishi from the JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Roscosmos cosmonauts Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)