Lucknow: the 39 -year -old group captain Shubhanshu Shuklathe combat pilot of Indian Air Force (IAF) and the astronaut of Isro, has been official appointed pilot for Mission 4 of Axiom (AX-4), a private space flight for International Space Station (ISS), scheduled for spring of the current calendar year.
NASA and its international partners have approved the crew of the AX-4 team, which will be launched aboard a Spacex Dragon spacecraft and will travel to the space station from the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once docked, private astronauts plan to spend up to 14 days aboard the orbits laboratory, carrying out a mission consisting of science, dissemination and commercial activities.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and human space flight director in Axioma spaceHe will send the commercial mission, while the astronaut of Isro Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as a pilot. The two mission specialists are the astronaut of the ESA project (European Space Agency) Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
According to the Axiom space, the captain of the Shukla group, a distinguished pilot in the IAF, has been selected as one of the four astronauts for the historic Mission of Gaganyaan de Isro: the inaugural effort of human space flight of the nation.
In a statement, Axiom Space said: “Shukla was born on October 10, 1985, in Lucknow, Shukla has fluency in both English and its native Hindi. His trip began when he was commissioned in the IAF combat wing in June 2006. As a combat leader and experienced test pilot, he has an impressive 2,000-hour flight experience in several airplanes, including the SU-30 MKI, MIG-21, MIG, MIG. -29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier and An-32. His rise to the rank of group captain in March 2024 reflects his exceptional contributions. “
In 2019, Shukla received a transcendental call from Isro.
He embarked on a rigorous training at the Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin training center in Star City, Moscow, Russia, a one -year preparation that would shape its destination. On February 27, 2024, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, announced Shukla as one of the elite astronauts who undergo intensive training for the inaugural mission of human spatial flights of India, Gaganyaan, scheduled for The launch in 2025.