Shubhanshu Shukla becomes the first Indian to go to the International Space Station (ISS), making every Indian proud of this memorable time of its successful launch. He is also the second Indian to go into space after 41 years after his mentor Rakesh Sharma. After multiple delays due to weather issues and technical glitches, the Axiom-4 mission carrying Shubhanshu Shukla and three others was successfully launched. This article aims to expand the life history of Subhanshu Shukla in detail.
Shubhanshu’s Early Life & Education
- Birth Place: Shubhanshu Shukla was born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on 10th October 1985. Currently, He is 39 years old.
- Subhanshu Shukla Education: He did his schooling from Aliganj. Afterwards, he applied and cleared the UPSC NDA examination.
- He did his graduation degree of Bsc. in computer science from NDA in 2005.
- Shukla is proficient and fluent in speaking both English and Hindi.
- Subhanshu went through training in the flying branch in the Indian Air Force Academy.
- After successful training, he was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as a Flying officer into the fighting stream in June, 2006.
Shubhanshu’s Family
- Shubhanshu’s father is Shambhu Dayal Shukla, a retired government officer while his mother Asha Shukla is a simple housewife.
- Among the three siblings, Shubhanshu is the youngest of all.
- Shubhanshu is married to Dr. Kamna Mishra, a dentist. They both had a son from their marriage as well.
- Before leaving for the Axiom-4 mission, Shukla got an opportunity to talk to his mother.
Career Highlights
- He has approximately 2000 hours of flying experience behind his back in flying various aircrafts that includes Su-30 MKI, MiG 21, MiG 29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier 228, An-32.
- He was sent on a hard and disciplined training, shaping his career, at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Moscow, Russia in 2019. This year-long preparation and training helped him sharpen his skills.
- Today, he is making India proud by piloting the historic Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) launched from Florida to the International Space Station (ISS).
- He is also a part of 4 member crew for the Gangayaan Mission, India’s first on-crew space exploration Mission which is scheduled to be launched in late 2026 or early 2027.
- He was also promoted to the rank of Group Captain in March 2024 and afterwards he got an opportunity to pilot Axiom Mission 4 as his most outstanding achievement till date.
Shubhanshu’s Idol & Mentor
- Shubhanshu considers astronaut Rakesh Sharma as his idol, first Indian to fly into space.
- Rakesh Sharma flyed in Space in a Russian Soyuz in 1984 and spent eight days in space orbiting Earth.
- Shukla, who was born a year later in 1985, claimed that he grew up reading about him and he inspired him for such a promising career.
- He revealed that he is carrying a surprise thing for his mentor to the International Space Station (ISS) and would give him upon his return after 14 days.
- Upon his successful return, he would also break Rakesh’s record of staying the most time in space as an Indian, 14 days.
Shukla’s Axiom-4 Mission
- Shukla came into the limelight after he was selected as one of the four crew members for the Axiom-4 Mission.
- The Mission includes Shubhanshu Shukla (India), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), Tibor Kapu (Hungary) and led by Nasa Astronaut Peddy Whitson (USA).
- Along with India, Poland and Hungary also waited for decades for Space Exploration. It is also a proud moment for Poland and Hungary as well.
- The trip to AX-4 is a collaboration between NASA, ISRO, European Space Agency (ESA) and SpaceX.
- The ISRO has spent INR 5 billion approximately for the training and securing a seat in the AX-4 Mission to the ISS for the Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla.
- The launch was executed through the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch took place at 12:01 PM IST from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- The 14 day trip to the ISS includes the primary task of conducting experiments as planned. These experiments would be primarily based on the study about the effect of micro-gravity on crops growth, muscle growth and impact of computer screens.
- A total of 60 experiments would be conducted by the crew, out of which 7 are for India.
- Shukla’s busy schedule would also give him enough time to interact with students to answer their questions while being in space.
- A call with PM Modi is also scheduled for Shubhanshu Shukla. PM Modi also wrote on X about the successful launch of the spacecraft.
The Real Mission of Humanity
Since inception, space exploration has been humanity’s biggest quest, an ongoing mission to uncover what lies beyond Earth. From groundbreaking experiments to understanding celestial mechanisms, the goal has always been to determine traces of life and whether we are alone in this vast universe.
Also Read: India’s First Space Nutrition Experiment Aboard the ISS
Space exploration and their countless missions have revealed wonders of the physical universe. However, it still falls short in answering deeper questions associated with our own existence and origin of everything around us.
The questions like — Who created the universe? What force keeps the planets suspended and rotating in precise orbits? Why do we exist, only to witness this cosmic spectacle? If science claims to explain everything, then why is death still unpredictable and uncertain? Despite its progress, science has not been able to unravel these mysteries.
Science believes in observation and experimentation, while exploring a fragment of this massive universe. However, the universe, which came into existence long before scientific theories and studies, is a creation of a spiritual power far beyond human capabilities.
While science continues to explore ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the universe, it still finds itself struggling with the answer of ‘why’. This is where the true essence of spirituality becomes crucial. The debate between science and spirituality has grown over the years, but the limitation of science in explaining our origin, what lies beyond the big bang? has left even the bigger minds wondering.
As explaining these concepts is beyond human intelligence, our Holy Scriptures give multiple evidences about the need to seek refuge in a Tatvdarshi Sant, Who is a complete knower of the secrets behind our origin. Today, Jagatguru Tatvdarshi Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj has unveiled these secrets from our holy scriptures. He has even proved it from our holy scriptures as well. Watch His special discourse in the following video to understand the concept in detail.
He has successfully revealed the bigger and the real mission associated with our human existence, salvation. This article urges you to understand this concept in detail to give your life the right purpose.
Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj’s discourses offer more such incredible insights into spiritual concepts, you can watch these at ‘Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj’ youtube channel. You can also visit www.jagatgururampalji.org for more information.
