Astronaut and Ashoka Chakra awardee Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is scheduled to visit the Amazing Space Museum – Zero Digital Space Museum in Ahmedabad on Saturday, 12 July, organisers confirmed. The visit, slated between 12 pm and 12:30 pm IST, will see India's first ISS visitor tour exhibits dedicated to his own spaceflight journey and the broader arc of human space exploration.

What Shukla Will See at the Museum

During the half-hour visit, Group Captain Shukla is expected to tour a specially curated Shubhanshu Shukla Gallery created in his honour, experience an International Space Station simulation, and view an Indian-themed astrophilately collection alongside what organisers describe as a world space currency collection — both curated by space enthusiast Tanmay Vyas.

'Visitors will have an opportunity to see exhibits linked to Shukla's achievements and India's expanding role in space exploration. The dedicated Shubhanshu Shukla Gallery has been created to commemorate his journey and to showcase milestones in India's space programme alongside international space missions,' organisers said.

The Historic Mission Behind the Visit

Group Captain Shukla made history earlier this year as the first Indian to visit the International Space Station and only the second Indian to travel to space — the first being Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, whose Soviet mission dates to 1984. Shukla flew as pilot of Axiom Mission 4, a commercial spaceflight conducted in partnership with Axiom Space, NASA, SpaceX, and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

He spent approximately 20 days aboard the ISS, conducting scientific research and technology demonstrations. The mission is widely regarded as a significant milestone for India's human spaceflight programme, with operational experience expected to directly benefit the country's forthcoming Gaganyaan crewed mission.

Ashoka Chakra and Career Credentials

President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Ashoka Chakra — India's highest peacetime gallantry award — on Group Captain Shukla in recognition of his role in the landmark mission. The award acknowledged both his personal courage and his contribution to India's growing ambitions in human space exploration.

Commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 2006, Shukla has logged more than 2,000 flying hours on aircraft including the Su-30MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32. He was selected in 2019 as one of ISRO's astronaut-designates for the Gaganyaan programme before being assigned to Axiom Mission 4.

Significance for India's Space Ambitions

The museum visit comes at a moment when India's human spaceflight programme is drawing heightened public interest. Axiom Mission 4 provided ISRO with real-world operational data in a crewed orbital environment — experience that is considered essential groundwork for Gaganyaan, India's first fully indigenous crewed mission. Notably, this is the first time a serving Indian astronaut will formally engage with a civilian space museum, underlining the government's push to build public awareness around space science.