Shubhanshu Shukla calls ISS journey a mission of 140 crore Indians

Reaching the International Space Station (ISS) was a mission of the 140 crore Indians, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla the first from the country to reach the orbiting lab said on Thursday.

IAF Group Captain Shukla, who achieved the feat on June 26, called it the “mission of an entire nation”.

After spending 18 days on the ISS, as part of the US-based Axiom Space’s Mission 4 along



with astronauts from the US, Poland, and Hungary, he returned to Earth on July 15. Following a month-long rehabilitation in the US, Shukla returned to India on August 17.

“I would like to thank every citizen of this country who behaved in a way that made it feel like they actually owned this mission. I truly felt that this was a mission for the entire nation,” Group Captain Shukla said at a press briefing.