NEW DELHI: The International Space Station welcomed its first Indian aboard with Shubhanshu Shukla floating out among hugs and cheers.The recently launched spacecraft, Grace, the fifth in the Dragon series, successfully performed a soft docking with the International Space Station at 16.01 IST while passing over the North Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.Shukla has become the second Indian to travel to space, nearly four decades after Rakesh Sharma’s historic flight in 1984. Accompanying him on the Axiom-4 mission are Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, marking Poland’s return to space since 1978, and Tibor Kapu, the first Hungarian astronaut in 45 years. The crew lifted off from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.

What’s next for India?

Gananyaan: It is India’s indigenous human spaceflight programme expected to launch by 2027. With this, the nation seeks to join the elite club of countries including the Soviet Union (now Russia), the United States, and China that have independently achieved manned space missions.India has showcased its space prowess through major achievements, such as deploying an orbiter around Mars and executing a successful soft landing of a robotic spacecraft near the Moon’s south pole.Shukla’s space experiments aboard the Axiom-4 mission are designed to directly support Gaganyaan programme. His research focuses on how microgravity affects plant growth, muscle loss, mental health, and microbial behavior—vital areas for long-term human spaceflight. He’s also studying tardigrades to understand survival mechanisms in extreme conditions. These experiments aim to develop sustainable space food systems, ensure astronaut well-being, and strengthen life support strategies for future Indian space missions.NISAE satellite: Nasa and Isro are set to launch the $1.5 billion NISAR satellite in July from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre. This advanced Earth-observing mission will use high-precision radar to monitor surface changes around the clock, providing crucial data on farming, climate, natural disasters, and more.Most Earth-observing satellites are limited by daylight and clear weather, making them less effective in cloudy or nighttime conditions. The Nasa-Isro NISAR mission addresses this gap with advanced radar technology that allows 24/7, all-weather imaging. This will enable more accurate and consistent monitoring of natural disasters, environmental shifts, and farming trends.With its global applications, NISAR is expected to be a game-changer for scientists, farmers, and disaster response teams worldwide.