Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s space mission has begun as part of the 'Axiom-4' (AX-4) mission. He, along with three others, took off aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:01 pm IST.
The spacecraft is set to dock with the International Space Station at 4:30 pm on Thursday. During the 14-day mission, Shukla, serving as the pilot, will conduct scientific research in collaboration with NASA.
Shukla becomes the first Indian astronaut to reach the ISS via a private spaceflight, four decades after Rakesh Sharma’s Soviet-assisted mission in 1984.
Before liftoff, Shubhanshu Shukla drew inspiration from his favorite patriotic song, ‘Vande Mataram’ from Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter, playing it during his journey to Launchpad 39-A.
