Historic moment: Shubhanshu Shukla's journey to the ISS | A picture story

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla made history on Wednesday as he lifted off to the International Space Station alongside three others on a commercial mission by Axiom Space.

ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, Hungarian astronaut Tibor Kapu, US astronaut Peggy Whitson and Polish astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski pose for a picture ahead of the Axiom-4 mission. Photo: AFP

An Axiom Space display is seen before the launch. Photo: AFP

The Axiom-4 mission, with a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photo: AFP/ Giorgio VIERA 

Shukla's parents, Shambhu Shukla and Asha Shukla, react as they watch the live broadcast of the mission in Lucknow. Photo: PTI/Nand Kumar

A joyous gathering at Shubhanshu Shukla’s City Montessori School in Lucknow, where his parents watched the historic launch.

Shukla was accompanied by NASA astronaut Mission Commander Peggy Whitson, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. Photo: SpaceX via PTI

Photo: SpaceX via X