Republic day 2026: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla conferred with Ashoka Chakra in New Delhi

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday (January 26, 2026) conferred India’s highest peacetime gallantry award, Ashoka Chakra, to Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who created history by becoming the first Indian to set foot on the International Space Station (ISS).

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The President presented the award to Mr. Shukla at the Republic Day celebrations at the Kartavya Path, the centrepiece boulevard of the national capital.

In June last year, Mr. Shukla became the second Indian to have gone to space and the first to visit the ISS as part of the historic Axiom-4 mission. His 18-day space odyssey came 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma flew aboard the Russian Soyuz-11 space mission.

As a fighter pilot, Shukla has an impressive record of 2,000 hours of flight experience across various aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32.

Shukla served as pilot for the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) to the International Space Station and left an indelible mark on India’s remarkable advancements in human space exploration.

After the successful space mission, Group Captain Shukla became a household name as his contribution during the mission, including the conduct of sophisticated experiments, received recognition from global space experts.

Axiom-4 mission: Shubhanshu Shukla, crew members head back to Earth after 18-day stay

The Axiom-4 mission was executed by US-based private firm Axiom Space, and it involved NASA, European Space Agency (Esa) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Group Captain Shukla hails from Lucknow. He was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in June 2006.

Adityanath hails Shubhanshu Shukla on Ashoka Chakra honour

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, a native of Lucknow, on being conferred the Ashoka Chakra, saying his courage and composure has given a new thrust to India’s human spaceflight programme.

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President Droupadi Murmu honoured Shukla with the country’s highest peacetime gallantry award on the 77th Republic Day at Kartavya Path in New Delhi for his “indomitable courage and outstanding valour” in successfully carrying the Axiom Mission-4 to the International Space Station (ISS).

“Your fearlessness, commitment and restraint have given a new flight to India’s human space programme,” the Chief Minister said in a Hindi post on X.