New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Gaganyatri Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian to float into the International Space Station (ISS), “Whenever I speak to anyone, I definitely give homework. We have to advance mission Gaganyaan. We have to build our own space station, and land an Indian astronaut on the surface of the Moon. Your experiences are going to be very valuable for all these missions. I am certain that you are recording your experiences there.” Shukla responded, “Yes Prime Minister, certainly. During the training for this mission, and lessons and learnings that I have learned during the experience, I am absorbing like a sponge, and I am sure that all of this will be very valuable and important for us when I return.”
One of the primary goals of ISRO sending Shukla to the ISS is to gain the first-hand experience necessary to fill any gaps and iron out any kinks in the procedures required for India’s own ambitious Gaganyaan programme to lift humans to Earth orbit using domestic hardware. A series of eight missions are planned to gradually build up the capabilities, culminating with the deployment of the first module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) by 2028. ISRO plans to assemble the orbital complex and commence regular operations by 2035. Parallelly, ISRO is planning a series of Chandrayaan missions, with the goal of landing an Indian crew on the Moon by the year 2040.
Axiom 4 crewmates want fly on Gaganyaan
Apart from the Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, the Axiom 4 mission consists of Commander Peggy Whitson, America’s most experienced astronaut, along with Mission Specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. Shukla added, “My colleagues who had come up with me also enquired about when they can fly on Gaganyaan. I felt very good when I heard that, and I responded that they will be able to do so very soon. I feel that this dream will be fulfilled very quickly. The seat that I am getting here, I will come back to India and apply it completely, 100 per cent, and try to fulfill the mission as quickly as possible”.