Rakesh Sharma, India’s first space hero, on Wednesday wished Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as the latter lifted off into space on board the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) in Florida.
Sharma, who became the first Indian to travel to space in 1984, said Shukla and his fellow astronauts should spend “as much time as possible to look out of the window”.
“Wishing you all the very best. To the crew, godspeed, and spend as much time as possible to look out of the window. Have fun time, guys,” Sharma said in a video posted by the news agency PTI.
VIDEO | India’s first space hero in 1984, Rakesh Sharma wishes Shubhanshu Shukla and other astronauts on Axiom-4 good luck.
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/2Azdg2y5K0
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 25, 2025
All About Shubhanshu Shukla
Born in Lucknow in 1985 and educated from Montessori through Class 12 at CMS Aliganj, Shukla went on to graduate from the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 2006. With over 2,000 hours of flight experience on elite combat aircraft, he was selected in 2019 for India’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme and later chosen as the pilot for Ax-4.
Axiom-4 Mission Launch LIVE Updates
Sharing the capsule with NASA senior Dr. Peggy Whitson (mission commander) and astronauts from Hungary and Poland, the 39-year-old’s 14-day mission as part of a commercial mission by Axiom Space will contribute to microgravity research in areas including human physiology, nutrition, and seed germination in space.
Rakesh Sharma – India’s First Space Hero
Rakesh Sharma was born on January 13, 1949, in Patiala, Punjab. He joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1966 and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a pilot in 1970.
On April 2, 1984, Sharma embarked on a historic journey to space aboard the Soyuz T-11 spacecraft, accompanied by two Soviet cosmonauts. The eight-day mission to the Salyut 7 space station was a collaborative venture between ISRO and the Soviet Intercosmos program.
In a unique cultural touch, Sharma carried Indian cuisine to space, thanks to the Defence Food Research Laboratory in Mysuru. He shared specially prepared dishes like sooji halwa, aloo chhole, and pulao with his fellow astronauts.
When then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked how India appeared from space, Sharma responded with the iconic line from Allama Iqbal’s poem: “Saare Jahan Se Accha” (Better than the entire world).
Besides being the first Indian to travel to space, Sharma was also awarded the title ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’—the highest civilian honour of the then USSR.