Jubilant Indians have been celebrating the successful launch of the Axiom-4 mission, which has taken off with a multi-country crew, including an Indian astronaut.
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who’s piloting the mission, has become only the second Indian to travel to space.
In just over 26 hours, when the spacecraft docks at the International Space Station (ISS), Group Captain Shukla will become the first ever Indian to visit NASA’s orbiting laboratory.
His trip comes 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to fly to space aboard a Russian Soyuz in 1984.
The trip to ISS aboard Ax-4, a commercial flight operated by Houston-based private company, Axiom Space, is a collaboration between NASA, India’s space agency ISRO, European Space Agency (ESA), and SpaceX.
Its four-member team also includes, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.
They will also be taking their countries back to space after more than four decades. The astronauts spent weeks in quarantine before Wednesday’s launch.
The flight has generated huge interest in India with ISRO saying the experience Group Captain Shukla will gain during his trip to the ISS will help its efforts immensely.
The 39-year-old was among four Indian air force officers shortlisted last year to travel on the country’s first-ever human space flight, scheduled for 2027.
India has also announced ambitious plans to set up a space station by 2035 and send an astronaut to the moon by 2040.
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ISRO, which has been carrying out several tests to prepare for going into space, has paid 5 billion rupees ($59m; £43m) to secure a seat for Group Captain Shukla on Ax-4 and his training.
Within minutes of takeoff, Group Captain Shukla had a message for India. “We’re back in space after 41 years, and what an amazing ride it’s been,” he said.
“Right now, we are orbiting earth at a speed of 750km per second. On my shoulder, I carry the Indian flag. This is not the start of my journey to the ISS; this is the beginning of India’s human spaceflight. I welcome all my fellow Indians to be a part of this journey and feel proud and excited.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the successful launch and said the Indian astronaut “carries with him the wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians”.
In Group Captain Shukla’s home city of Lucknow, his parents joined hundreds of students to watch the lift-off.
They were welcomed by a music band on their arrival at the school and were seen breaking out into applause as the rocket lifted off.
