India’s PM Modi welcomes the successful launch of Space Mission carrying astronauts from the US, India, Hungary, and Poland

(Forelines) – On Wednesday, the successful launch of the space mission containing astronauts from the US, India, Hungary, and Poland was greeted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In addition, PM Modi sent his best wishes to Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, an Indian astronaut who is his route to becoming the country’s first astronaut to visit the International Space Station.

“We welcome the successful launch of the Space Mission carrying astronauts from India, Hungary, Poland and the US,” PM Modi said in a post on X.

“The Indian Astronaut, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is on the way to become the first Indian to go to International Space Station. He carries with him the wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians,” PM Modi added.

“Wish him and other astronauts all the success!” he further stated.

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is an ISRO astronaut and test pilot in the Indian Air Force. He is presently on-board the Axiom-4 Mission and will be the first of four astronauts to journey into space as part of the Indian Human Spaceflight Program.

With their first government-sponsored flight in over 40 years, India, Poland, and Hungary will “realize the return” to human spaceflight through the Ax-4 mission.

Ax-4 will be the first time all three countries have conducted a mission aboard the International Space Station, even though it is these countries’ second-ever human spaceflight mission. This landmark flight demonstrates how Axiom Space is advancing national space programs around the world and rethinking the route to low-Earth orbit.

On June 25 at 2:31 a.m. ET, the Ax-4 crew departed LC-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and boarded a SpaceX Dragon spaceship to the International Space Station.

Since its launch on June 25, 2025, Shubhanshu Shukla has been the pilot of the continuing Axiom Mission 4 mission to the International Space Station. He joins mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu in a crew under commander Peggy Whitson. The backup crew member was fellow ISRO astronaut Prasanth Nair, who also trained at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The goal of the NASA, SpaceX, and ISRO-led mission is to improve collaboration in international spaceflight. After cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla is the second Indian to reach orbit and the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station. His seat is expected to cost around ₹500 crore, or the “mid-$60-million range.”