Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday commended the successful docking of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft with the International Space Station (ISS), carrying Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla along with three other crew members. The mission, Axiom-4, is led by Axiom Space, a private American space company.
Nearly two hours after initial contact with the ISS, the Axiom-4 crew entered the Harmony module, where they received a warm welcome from the seven-member Expedition 73 team currently aboard the station.
The Axiom-4 crew will spend the next two weeks conducting scientific research and outreach activities. The minister noted that Shukla will carry out experiments designed in research laboratories across India. The findings will be shared globally, in line with the spirit of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Vishwabandhu Bharat” envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“India’s role in space exploration is no longer limited to the launchpad. We are now shaping the future of life and science in space,” said Singh.
The Minister explained that the microgravity experiments Shukla will conduct aboard the ISS have been designed with multiple objectives — including improving the nutritional intake of future space missions, enabling water recycling, and converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. All of these aim to optimize the use of limited resources in space, which is particularly crucial for long-duration space habitation.
To achieve these objectives, experiments have been developed by researchers at Delhi-based institutions – the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR) – to study the growth patterns of edible microalgae in space. Another experiment focused on nutrition will investigate the germination and nutritional properties of sprouting seeds, specifically moong and methi, developed by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, and IIT Dharwad, the minister noted.
According to the official document, some of the studies will address the issue of muscle loss experienced during space travel. The Bengaluru-based Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem) has planned experiments to uncover the biological mechanisms behind muscle degradation and explore potential interventions for muscle regeneration in microgravity. The findings could also contribute to the development of new rehabilitation therapies for muscle-related disorders on Earth, stated the press statement.
Other experiments will focus on the interaction between humans and electronic displays in microgravity, and on testing the growth and resilience of seeds like rice, cowpea, sesame, brinjal, and tomato under space conditions. According to the ministry, these studies are important for designing better human-machine interfaces for future space missions and for advancing space agriculture.