President Murmu meets astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, India’s first space station traveller

New Delhi, August 22. President Droupadi Murmu on Friday hosted astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he recounted his experiences aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Shukla recently created history by becoming the first Indian astronaut to travel to the ISS, spending 20 days in space as part of Axiom Mission 4 before returning to Earth last month.

He was accompanied by Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair and Group Captain Punyashlok Biswal, along with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman and Department of Space Secretary V Narayanan and Human Space Flight Centre Director Dinesh Kumar Singh.

President Murmu conveyed her appreciation to the team and wished them success in upcoming missions, particularly India’s ambitious human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement on X.

“Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair and Group Captain Punyashlok Biswal, along with Chairman, ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space, Dr V Narayanan and Director, Human Space Flight Centre, Shri Dinesh Kumar Singh, called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan,” the post on X reads. “Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla shared his experiences in space with the President. The President extended her best wishes to the entire team for future endeavours, especially for the Gaganyaan Mission.”