New Delhi: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force (IAF) created history on Thursday by becoming the first Indian to step into the International Space Station (ISS).
Visuals from the ISS showed Shukla, and the other three astronauts on the Crew Dragon Capsule, being helped through the vestibule connecting the spacecraft and the ISS. All of were grinning as they were welcomed with bear hugs by the seven astronauts already on the ISS.
The #Ax4 crew—commander Peggy Whitson, @ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, @ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and mission specialist Tibor Kapu—emerges from the Dragon spacecraft and gets their first look at their home in low Earth orbit. pic.twitter.com/5q0RfoSv4G
— NASA (@NASA) June 26, 2025
The four then lined up for a photo op while enjoying a welcome drink from foil packs.
The capsule docked in the evening, completing a 28-hour flight from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre to a point, nearly 424 km over the northern Atlantic Ocean.
At 4.01 pm (IST), Mission Control confirmed a ‘soft capture’, i.e., a connection allowing the spacecraft, named Grace after it reached orbit, and the station some room to move to absorb kinetic energy generated during initial contact.
Minutes later a ‘hard capture’, i.e., a more robust connection, was confirmed and, at 4.15 pm (IST) NASA confirmed that the docking sequence had been completed.
“We are honored to be here… thank you,” Mission Commander Peggy Whitson told those already present on the ISS.
The journey for Shukla, Whitson and thebither two astronauts – Slawoz Wisniewski of Poland and Hungarian Tibor Kapu – began at 12.01 pm (IST) on Wednesday when SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Launch Complex 39A, the same site that launched Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 mission.
Shukla and his fellow astronauts have a busy 14 days ahead of them. “I think this is fantastic, this is wonderful and I am very confident that the next 14 days are going to be amazing, advancing science and research, and working together,” he said.
Over the next fortnight they will conduct 60 experiments, seven of which were proposed by India, including one to study ‘water bears’ – microscopic organisations – to understand how living things adapt to microgravity. The focus will also be on bio-manufacturing and bio-astronautics’ during the mission.
Earlier in the day, even as the Dragon capsule hurtled towards the ISS, mission pilot Shukla described the launch as ‘magical’ and reflected on his journey.
“I am thrilled to be hear with my fellow astronauts…. what a ride it was. Honestly, as I finally sat on the launchpad after 30 days of quarantine (thanks to numerous launch delays), all I could think was… ‘let’s just go!’. When it happened… it was something else entirely. You’re pushed back into the seat and then, suddenly, there’s silence. You’re just floating in the vacuum… and it’s magical,” he said.
Shukla called the mission a ‘collective achievement’. “I truly appreciate the efforts of every individual who made this journey possible. This accomplishment belongs to all of us,” he said.
