Panaji, Astronaut Subhanshu Shukla on Friday said that India has set bold goals for itself, from being a Vixet India to conducting ambitious space missions by 2047, stressing that realizing these aspirations is the collective responsibility of citizens.
India has set audacious goals, we must deliver: Astronaut ShuklaInteracting with students during the ongoing Goa Book Festival 2026 in Panaji, organized by the National Book Trust, Shukla, a Group Captain in the Indian Air Force, narrated several anecdotes about his space mission and its preparations.
“India has set very bold goals, be it Vixit India by 2047 or space missions. But how do we achieve them? We all have to make it possible,” he said, adding, “All of you have to take that responsibility”.
Shukla said India is already working on the Gaganyaan mission. “We’re working on our own space station, then a mission to the moon,” he said. The Gaganyaan project is an ambitious space program to send a 3-member crew into a 400 km orbit for a 3-day mission.
Referring to the students, Shukla said he would like to see one of them, be it a boy or a girl, become the first Indian to step on the moon.
“The sky was never the limit… not for me, not for you, not for India,” he said.
He also showed videos shot during his Axiom-4 mission, as well as views of Earth from space.
Shukla returned to Earth in July last year after spending 18 days aboard the International Space Station. He became the second Indian to travel in space under the Axiom-4 mission, after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 flight.
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“I am often asked to describe what India looks like from space. This question was also asked to Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, India’s first astronaut, and he aptly replied ‘Sare jahan se good’. I have no better words to describe our country,” he said.
Asked about the pressure ahead of the mission, Shukla said, “When you go on a mission, there is always pressure.”
“There’s a lot of pressure. You think about what might happen on the mission. But you also realize that you’re not just representing you or your flag, you’re representing 1.4 billion people. You’re going into space for them,” he said.
Shukla said that in such situations, she always reminds herself that it is not time to panic. “This is the time to perform. If you let yourself down now, there’s no point in picking you,” he said.
Describing his experience before entering the rocket, he said, from a distance of two and a half kilometers you can see the rocket fully illuminated.
“You are also given the option to play a song to cheer yourself up. I played ‘Bande Mataram’ from the film Fighter at full volume, and I was ready for the mission,” he added.
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