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    India to send first astronaut on mission to International Space Station | Shubhanshu Shukla will be first Indian to reach orbit in more than 40 years as country works to join global space race
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    India to send first astronaut on mission to International Space Station | Shubhanshu Shukla will be first Indian to reach orbit in more than 40 years as country works to join global space race


    India to send first astronaut on mission to International Space Station | Shubhanshu Shukla will be first Indian to reach orbit in more than 40 years as country works to join global space race

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/09/indian-astronaut-shubhanshu-shukla-join-mission-to-international-space-station

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    1. zenitsu10000 on

      As an Indian. “meh”

      This is unnecessary. I would rather root for India’s own Gaganyaan program which aims for a manned Indian mission within the next 2 years.

    2. JetScootr on

      **Kalpana Chawla** (March 17, 1962 – February 1, 2003) was an American astronaut and [aerospace engineer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospace_engineer) who was the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space.

      She became a naturalized United States citizen in the early 1990s.

      She flew on STS 87 and STS 107 as mission specialist. She died as STS 107 failed on reentry (the Columbia accident).

      So the article is almost wrong – Shukla will be the first Indian *citizen* to get to orbit in 40 years.

    3. Jedi_Emperor on

      The headline is referring to the first Indian in space back in 1984, Rakesh Sharma visiting the Salyut 7 station.

      But there’s also Sunita Williams, born in America to Indian parents, who was in orbit earlier this year. I can see them excluding her from the count as she was born in the US, also Raja Chari born in the US and visiting ISS in 2021.

      And there was also Kalpana Chawla, born in India and flying on the Shuttle in 97 and 03, tragically dying on the Columbia. I think the mistake is that her flights didn’t visit the ISS, they were free flying Shuttle missions. Which will make Shubhanshu Shukla the first Indian national to visit ISS.

      Which makes the headline wrong. It’s not the first Indian in orbit for 40 years. It’s the first Indian national to visit the International Space Station. You could phrase it as the first Indian to visit an orbiting space station in 40 years if you really want that Salyut 7 reference in the headline but it’s a bit of a stretch.

    4. abyssDweller1700 on

      Meh. It will only matter when we do it through our own Rocket. Which should happen in a few years.