July 06, 2025

On July 06, 2025, in the afternoon, Shubhanshu Shukla, the Indian Gaganyatri currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission, had a telephonic conversation with Dr V Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space. During the call, the Chairman expressed his keen interest in Shubhanshu's well-being and inquired about the various scientific experiments and activities being conducted on the ISS.

The Chairman emphasized the significance of documenting all experiments and activities meticulously after Shubhanshu's return to Earth, as this will provide valuable insights and inputs for the development of India's human spaceflight program, Gaganyaan. The Gaganyaan program aims to demonstrate India's capability to launch a crewed spacecraft into low Earth orbit, and the experiences and knowledge gained from this mission will be crucial for its success. Shubhanshu Shukla's ISS mission has been executed under the ISRO-Axiom Spaceflight agreement.

The discussion was attended by several senior officials from ISRO, including Dr. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and Chairman of the Program Management Council for Human Space Programme; Shri M Mohan, Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC); Shri Padmakumar E S, Director of ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU); Shri M Ganesh Pillai, Scientific Secretary of ISRO; and Shri N Vedachalam, former Director of LPSC. These officials also had the opportunity to interact with Shubhanshu Shukla during the call, discussed various aspects of the mission and the experiments being conducted.

Shubhanshu Shukla expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Honorable Prime Minister for providing him with this incredible opportunity to represent India on the ISS. He also shared updates on the progress of the experiments and activities being carried out on the space station, highlighting the scientific objectives and the challenges being addressed.

Shubhanshu Shukla acknowledged the efforts of Chairman, ISRO and the team ISRO in ensuring his safe travel to the ISS. Chairman, ISRO reiterated that the entire ISRO team is working closely to support him throughout the mission. Chairman had regular meetings with Shubhanshu Shukla prior to the mission, motivating him for the journey and providing guidance on the scientific objectives and the importance of the mission for India's Space Programme. The Chairman also interacted with Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, the standby astronaut, on a regular basis, ensuring that all necessary preparations were in place for a successful mission.