Overview

• Shukla arrived aboard the ISS with a multinational crew on June 26 after docking at Harmony module’s space-facing port
• The four-member team will conduct about 60 experiments over two weeks, with Shukla at the helm of seven life-science and plant-biology studies
• In a video conference with Prime Minister Modi, the astronaut noted that Earth appears without borders from orbit and that India looks grander than on maps
• Shukla brought traditional Indian foods including gajar ka halwa, moong dal halwa and aamras to share with his crewmates, highlighting cultural diplomacy in space
• The private Axiom-4 mission, operated by Axiom Space with SpaceX, NASA and ISRO, serves as a stepping stone for India’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight initiative