ISS Visit 'Entire Nation's Mission' Says Shubhanshu Shukla On His Maiden Space Journey

"It was entire nation's mission," said Indian Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla on his historic space journey. Shukla returned to India following his landmark visit to the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission.

"I would like to thank each and every citizen of this country who behaved in a way that made it feel like they actually owned this mission," said Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla while addressing a joint press briefing with Union Minister Jitendra Singh, ISRO Chief V Narayanan, and Group Captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair— who is part of India's Gaganyaan crew.

"No matter how much training you have done, even after that, when you sit in the rocket and the engines ignite, it is a very different feeling," he said. "I had not imagined how it would feel, and I was actually running behind the rocket for the first few seconds it took me some time to catch up to it. From that moment until the time we splashed down, the experience was unbelievable," he shared.

"Proud of him," said ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan on Shukla's space journey. The Axiom-4 mission is a prestigious mission, noted ISRO Chairman during the press briefing. "The first Indian was taken to the International Space Station and was brought back safely, Shubhanshu Shukla," he said.

Commenting on India's Gaganyaan Mission, Shukla shared that, "Very soon we shall see someone travelling from our capsule, from our rocket, from our soil."

Shukla thanked the Indian Government, ISRO and his colleagues at ISRO who have worked so hard to successfully execute it.

He had to perform the experiments that were conceived, developed and realised by the Indian researchers. He also performed STEM demonstrations, capture photos and videographs.

On ISRO's next launch, ISRO Chairman Narayanan shared, "In another 2-3 months, we will launch a 6500 kg communication satellite of USA, which is going to be launched using our launch vehicle."