India has set bold goals, we must deliver: Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla

Panaji: Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla said on Friday that India has set bold goals for itself, from becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047 to undertaking ambitious space missions, stressing that it is the collective responsibility of citizens to realise these aspirations.

Interacting with students during the ongoing Goa Book Festival 2026 in Panaji, organised by the National Book Trust, Shukla, a Group Captain in the Indian Air Force, narrated several anecdotes about his space mission and also the preparations in the run-up to it.

"India has set very bold goals, be it Viksit Bharat by 2047 or space missions. But how can we achieve those? We all have to make it possible,” he said, adding that “you all have to assume that responsibility”.

Shukla said India is already working on the Gaganyaan mission. “We are working to have our own space station, followed by a mission on the Moon,” he said. The Gaganyaan project is an ambitious space programme to launch a 3-member crew into an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission.

Referring to the students, Shukla said he wants to see one of them, be it a boy or a girl, to be the first Indian to set foot on the Moon.

“Sky was never a limit... not for me, not for you, not for Bharat,” 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 an 18-day stay on the International Space Station. He became the second Indian to travel to space, under the Axiom-4 mission, after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 flight.

“I am often asked to describe how India looks from space. This question was also asked to India’s first astronaut, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, and he aptly replied ‘Sare Jahan Se Accha’. I have no better words to describe our country,” he said.

Responding to questions about the pressures ahead of the mission, Shukla said, “When you go for a mission, there is always pressure.” “There is a lot of pressure. You think about what may happen in the mission. But you also realise that you are not representing just you or your flag, but you are representing 1.4 billion people. You are going to space on their behalf,” he said.

Shukla said that in such situations, he always reminds himself that this is not the time to be afraid. “This is the time to perform. If you let yourself down now, there is no point in choosing you,” he said.

Recounting his experience before entering the rocket, he said, “You can see the rocket from two and a half kilometres away, fully illuminated.” “You are also given the option to play a song to pump yourself up. I played ‘Vande Mataram’ from the film Fighter at full volume, and I was ready for the mission,” he added.