After 41 Years, India's Flag Will Fly In Space Again, Says Indian Astronaut Shubanshu Shukla Before Axiom-4 Mission Lift-Off

Just before lift-off, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla took to social media to send a patriotic message to all the Indians watching the historic moment. The Axiom-4 spaceflight has four crew members on board, and Shukla will pilot the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to ISS.

Shukla took to X to share one last message before his lift-off. “After 41 years, India’s flag will fly in space again. Jai Hind,” he wrote. The last human spaceflight conducted by an Indian was in 1984, when astronaut Rakesh Sharma flew on the Soviet Soyuz mission.

The spaceflight to ISS from Florida's Kennedy Space Center is being broadcasted live by Axion Space and NASA both. The mission is organized by NASA and Axiom Space, and the four member crew has a diverse international crew and marks a major step forward in commercial and global space exploration.

"Dragon’s hatch is closed, all communication and suit checks are complete, the seats are rotated, and the Ax-4 crew is ready for launch!," Shukla wrote on X

Shukla is joined by veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. For India, Hungary, and Poland, this mission signifies a return to human spaceflight after a long hiatus. SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft scheduled to lift off at 2:31 a.m. EDT (12:01 p.m. IST).