At noon on June 25, 2025 (IST), India’s Shubhanshu Shukla lifted off with three other astronauts from NASA’s Florida spaceport to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 commercial mission. This is the first time an Indian has gone to orbital space since Rakesh Sharma in 1984. If the Dragon crew capsule docks successfully with the ISS on June 26, Mr. Shukla will also become the first Indian onboard the ISS. Over the next two weeks, he and the ISS crew will perform a suite of experiments carried by the Axiom-4 mission, including eight from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Mr. Shukla is among the leading candidates to fly in India’s maiden human space flight mission, Gaganyaan, currently slated for 2027. For now, the Department of Space has not articulated the reasons for spending ₹548 crore to buy Mr. Shukla’s seat on Axiom-4. Against the backdrop of the ₹20,200-crore budget for Gaganyaan, Mr. Shukla’s paid flight to the ISS, packaged along with advanced training for him and back-up crewmate Prasanth Nair, will give India considerable insight into human space flight and how it is coordinated ahead of mounting its own astronaut expeditions, regardless of the money spent. However, this does not spare the Department of Space and ISRO from communicating the rationale and extent of these benefits, which has yet to happen.

Space flight has changed considerably between Mr. Sharma’s and Mr. Shukla’s flights: the stakes today are multidimensional and more demanding. Axiom is a private entity contracted with NASA and SpaceX, and which sells seats to commercial missions to the ISS. But uncertainties linger over NASA’s future access to the Dragon crew capsules following Elon Musk’s spat with U.S. President Donald Trump. The effects of Mr. Trump’s tariffs and his willingness to honour predecessor Joe Biden’s commitments to India, given the major budget cuts he has proposed for 2026, are also unclear. And the ISS is set to be decommissioned by 2030. In this world, the future of India’s own space programme is caught between multiple futures. NASA and private U.S. companies, including Blue Origin, have said they would like to use Gaganyaan technologies in future missions as part of strengthening U.S.-India ties in the space sector. But even as the country balances commercial with public sector needs, it needs to remain a relevant provider of space flight services. The Indian government has signalled that it is willing to take positive steps to bolster the private sector but which, thus far, have been inadequate. Thus, once Mr. Shukla returns, ISRO’s to-do list will move to the next big challenge even as public expectations of it, including transparent communication, will soar.