Editorial: New milestone in India’s space odyssey

Axiom-4 shows that India is no longer just launching payloads but also launching people and ideas into space

If Rakesh Sharma’s historic spaceflight nearly 41 years ago aboard a Russian Soyuz was a small baby step for India in its space odyssey, Shubhanshu Shukla’s achievement today — becoming the first Indian astronaut to set foot on the International Space Station (ISS) — is a giant leap for the country’s ambitious space exploration goals. Much has changed in the last four decades as India is now a leading space-faring nation, having successfully launched missions to the Moon and Mars and proved its mettle in satellite launching capabilities. If there is any one scientific area where India has been consistently top-notch in its performance, it is space exploration. Be it harnessing satellite technologies for societal good or exploring new frontiers in the solar system, Indian scientists have been second to none. As a result of a series of stellar achievements, India has earned a place at the high table of elite space-faring nations. Group Captain Shukla has made the country proud by piloting the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission, a collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), European Space Agency (ESA) and SpaceX. During the two-week mission, the crew would conduct 60 scientific experiments, including seven designed by ISRO which paid $59 million to secure a seat for Shukla on Ax-4 and his training. The experiments, covering a wide range of areas, are expected to enhance knowledge of biological processes in microgravity to guide strategies for long-duration space missions. This mission holds much more than a symbolic value for India as the country prepares for its manned mission, Gaganyaan.

The hands-on experience that Captain Shukla will gain during this trip will help India in its human space flights. ISRO is planning to launch the first-ever human space flight in 2027 and has announced ambitious plans to set up a space station by 2035 and send an astronaut to the Moon by 2040. The learnings from Axiom-4 — both technical and physiological — will be vital to calibrate life-support systems, crew conditioning protocols, mission duration strategies, and microgravity experiment execution under real space conditions. Though citizens from about 50 countries have been to space so far, only three countries actually can send humans to space — the United States, Russia and China. Very soon, India will be the fourth. Shukla could very well have been on an Indian mission, powered by an Indian rocket and travelling in an Indian spacecraft. He, along with three others, were selected as astronauts for an Indian mission. The fact that the Axiom-4 mission materialised ahead of India’s Gaganyaan mission provided an excellent opportunity for ISRO to gain first-hand experience in space travel. The entry into human spaceflight is about national pride, scientific leadership, and technological sovereignty. Axiom-4 demonstrates that India is no longer just launching payloads but also launching people and ideas into space. It is also a key player in space diplomacy.

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