🌌 Introduction: India Returns to Orbital Space After 40 Years On June 25, 2025 , at noon IST, history was made when Shubhanshu Shukla , an Indian astronaut, lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, becoming the first Indian to reach orbital space since Rakesh Sharma in 1984 . His mission? Aboard the Axiom-4 commercial spaceflight , destined for the International Space Station (ISS) . This landmark moment not only marks India’s return to human spaceflight but also signals a new era of collaboration, technology, and ambition for India’s growing role in global space exploration. 🚀 What is Axiom-4? A New Model for Commercial Spaceflight The Axiom-4 mission is part of NASA’s initiative to open the ISS to private space missions . Operated by Axiom Space , the mission launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon Crew Capsule . This capsule is one of the most advanced crewed space vehicles in the world, designed for safe, autonomous docking, high-spe...