Shubhanshu Shukla's Axiom 4 lifts off from Florida: How mission different from Rakesh Sharma's in 1984?

Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has piloted the Axiom 4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), marking a new era in India’s space journey. He has become the first Indian to achieve the feat, in India’s second government-sponsored human spaceflight in more than four decades. Earlier, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma scripted history as India’s first astronaut in space, with a 1984 mission partnered with the Soviet Union. Both the space missions are landmark events; however, there is a stark difference in their objectives and implications for India’s space programme. 

Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space 

Rakesh Sharma flew aboard Soyuz T-11 spacecraft on April 3, 1984, as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme. The mission launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, travelled to the Salyut 7 orbital station with two Soviet cosmonauts, Yury Malyshev and Gennady Strekalov. He spent 7 days, 21 hours, and 40 minutes on the mission during which scientific and technical studies were conducted, including forty-three experimental sessions.

Shubhanshu Shukla on Axiom 4 mission

An experienced IAF test pilot, Shubhanshu, serves as the pilot on the Axiom-4 mission that launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.  The ISRO astronaut plans to spend up to 14 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission comprised of science, outreach, and commercial activities. Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, is in command of the mission, with two mission specialists–European Space Agency project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

How different was Rakesh Sharma’s mission from Shubhanshu’s Axiom 4 mission?

Shukla’s Axiom 4 mission is the second commercial spaceflight mission made up of government and ESA-sponsored national astronauts. It is a commercially arranged effort, as during a visit to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that an Indian astronaut would travel to the ISS. Subsequently, ISRO signed a spaceflight agreement with Axiom Space. On the other hand, Sharma’s mission was a collaborative effort of the Indo-Soviet partnership, which was designed to boost goodwill and scientific exchange between the USSR and allied nations. It highlighted India’s entry into the world's leading spacefaring countries.

Sharma’s mission launched with a limited immediate technological impact for India, conducting 43 experiments mainly in biomedicine and remote sensing. Shubhanshu’s mission will see NASA and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) collaborating to launch several scientific investigations. These studies include examining muscle regeneration, growth of sprouts and edible microalgae, survival of tiny aquatic organisms, and human interaction with electronic displays in microgravity.