Hyderabad: Shubhanshu Shukla, who flew to the International Space Station last year, marked Rakesh Sharma’s 77th birthday with a tribute on X. He revealed that he had carried a photograph of Sharma, India’s first astronaut, with him during the Axiom-4 mission in 2025, a gesture he had hinted at before launch.
In his post, Shukla fondly called his mentor ‘Ricky Sir’. “I took you along with me to space… just in case gravity was feeling nostalgic.”
The post featured two images. In the first photograph, Shukla is seen inside the International Space Station, with a blue Earth visible in the background, holding a photograph of Sharma in his spacesuit.
The other was taken on Earth, showing the two men together at an event.
3 April 1984 was the day India officially expanded its neighbourhood — thanks to Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who took the nation to space and proved that our dreams had no atmospheric limit. Ever since sir, you have been a constant reminder that courage, determination, and a… pic.twitter.com/xGGZPnSsQX
— Shubhanshu Shukla (@gagan_shux) January 13, 2026
Shukla also wrote about his own arc, from reading about Sharma in school textbooks to meeting him in person and later being guided by him. Both trained at the National Defence Academy in Pune, years apart.
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Astronauts in a similar orbit
There were more parallels in Shukla and Sharma’s lives than going to space.
Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma (Retd) and Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla both got their military training at the National Defence Academy in Pune, years apart.
Both took to the skies. Sharma went on to fly MiG-21 fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force. Shukla’s flying career spans multiple platforms, including the MiG-21, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32.
On 20 September 1982, Sharma was selected as a cosmonaut under the joint Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Soviet Interkosmos programme. On 3 April 1984, at the age of 35, he flew aboard Soyuz T-11, becoming the first Indian citizen to travel to space. India conferred its highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashoka Chakra, to Rakesh Sharma, in 1985.
Forty years later, on 26 June 2025, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the second Indian citizen to travel to space, reaching the International Space Station aboard the private Axiom-4 mission.
In his post, Shukla thanked Rakesh Sharma for the influence he had on his life.
“Thank you, sir, for being my mentor, and for continuing to inspire an entire nation to aim a little higher,” he wrote.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)