India Enters New Space Age as Shukla Reaches ISS; Eyes Gaganyaan Launch and NISAR Mission

An image shows Shubhanshu Shukla's first video from space with the Indian flag.

Shubhanshu Shukla has made history as the first Indian to enter the International Space Station (ISS). The arrival was marked by embraces and celebrations.

The Grace spacecraft, the fifth in the Dragon series, successfully docked with the ISS at 16.01 IST on Thursday, soaring over the North Atlantic Ocean.

Shukla is the second Indian to journey into space, following Rakesh Sharma's pioneering flight in 1984. The Axiom-4 mission also includes Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, marking Poland’s return to space since 1978, and Tibor Kapu, the first Hungarian astronaut in 45 years. The crew launched from Nasa's Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.

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Gaganyaan Mission

Gaganyaan, India’s ambitious indigenous human spaceflight program, is slated for launch by 2027. This mission aims to place India among the elite nations, including Russia, the United States, and China, that have independently achieved manned space missions.

Shukla’s experiments on the Axiom-4 mission will directly contribute to the Gaganyaan program. His research will focus on the effects of microgravity on plant growth, muscle loss, mental health, and microbial behavior. He will also study tardigrades to understand survival mechanisms in extreme environments. These investigations will support the development of sustainable space food systems, ensure astronaut well-being, and strengthen life support strategies for future Indian space missions.

NISAR Satellite

NISAR (Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar), a joint project between NASA and ISRO, is preparing for launch in July from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre. This advanced Earth-observing mission, valued at $1.5 billion, will employ high-precision radar to monitor surface changes around the clock. This will provide essential data for farming, climate monitoring, and disaster management.

Unlike many Earth-observing satellites that are limited by daylight and weather conditions, NISAR’s advanced radar technology allows for 24/7, all-weather imaging. This capability will enable more accurate and consistent monitoring of natural disasters, environmental shifts, and farming trends.

NISAR is expected to be a transformative tool for scientists, farmers, and disaster response teams globally.