'My experience will help in Gaganyaan Mission': Shubhanshu Shukla on visiting space station

PM Modi with astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla. (Image: X/narendramodi)

Indian Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, who returned from the International Space Station recently,  said on Thursday that his experience in the International Space Station (ISS) will be helpful in India's Gaganyaan mission.

'The mission has been extremely successful. We have been able to achieve all our technical objectives. Witnessing the execution of a human space life mission as such gives you a lot of knowledge, a lot of information," said Shukla at a press conference. "The experience from ISS mission going to be very useful for our own Gaganyaan mission; Learnt a lot in past one year. Very soon, we shall see someone travelling from our capsule, from our rocket, from our soil."

During a joint press briefing with ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan, reflecting on the experience, Mr Shukla said spaceflight was different from ground training, and expressed gratitude to the Indian government, ISRO, and researchers for making the mission possible.

Shukla is the first Indian astronaut to travel to the ISS. During the 18-day mission, Shukla and three international crewmates, Peggy Whitson, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Tibor Kapu, carried out more than 60 scientific experiments and 20 outreach sessions before returning to Earth.

VIDEO | Delhi: Indian astronaut and Axiom 4 mission group captain Shubhanshu Shukla shares his journey from the beginning of the mission to its successful splashdown while addressing the media.

He says, "...No matter how much training you have done, even after that, when you… pic.twitter.com/LjOh8CljIO — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 21, 2025

Speaking bout his journey, Shukla said that they were tasked to perform experiments and also capture photos and videos. "We were flying on top of the Falcon 9 Vehicle… Crew Dragon is one of the three vehicles that can take humans to space… My profile in this mission was the mission pilot. There are four seats in the Crew Dragon. I was the mission pilot and I had to work with the commander and interact with the systems of the Crew Dragon… We had to perform the experiments that were conceived, developed and realised by the Indian researchers. And also to perform STEM demonstrations, capture photos and videographs," he said.

Earlier on Monday,  Shukla also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.