Axiom-4 mission lifts off, India’s Shubhanshu Shukla begins journey to ISS

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla made history on Wednesday when Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station (ISS) lifted off a little after noon from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission is the first time since Rakesh Sharma’s journey aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft in 1984 that the Indian government is sponsoring a human spaceflight mission, a precursor to its ambitious Gaganyaan mission. The Indian Space Research Organisation is reportedly spending Rs 550 crore on Gaganyaan. Shukla will become the first Indian to reach the ISS on Thursday, after an approximately 28-hour journey.