Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti sends I-Day wishes to India from International Space Station

In the video, Cristoforetti wishes India & ISRO on behalf of the NASA and European Space Agency on completing 75 years of Independence.

ESA Samantha Cristoforetti onboard the International Space Station | ESA/NASA

New Delhi: Among the many congratulatory messages coming India’s way, ahead of its 76th Independence Day, the nation Saturday received wishes that were simply out of this world.

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, on behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and ESA, congratulated India and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on completing 75 years of Independence from the International Space Station.

The video was shared by ISRO on Twitter, thanking NASA, ESA and the International Space Station for their wishes on the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

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Thank you @NASA, @esa, and all the partners of the International Space Station? @Space_Station for the wishes on #AzadiKaAmritMahotsav ?? pic.twitter.com/2r0xuwdSQ4

— ISRO (@isro) August 13, 2022

ISRO’s tweet was liked by 22,000 users and reshared more than 4,000 times, including by Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

“Sky is not the limit! Good wishes from #space ISS as #India celebrates #75YearsofIndependence Appreciate Astronaut Samantha for the warm message. A true partnership between NASA, ISRO, and ESA,” Sandhu wrote.

Wishes for ISRO’s ‘Gaganyaan’ programme

Cristoforetti also wished success to the ISRO for its ‘Ganganyaan’ programme, India’s first human space mission which is scheduled to take place in 2023.

She said, “On the behalf of ESA, NASA, and all international partners, I would like to wish the best of luck to ISRO as it works on the Gaganyaan programme and gets ready to send humans into space. Expanding our partnership with ISRO and exploring the universe together is a goal for all of us for future space explorations.”

The Gaganyaan programme costing approximately Rs 9,000 crore aims to create a more sustainable and affordable means for human and robotic exploration of space, the solar system and beyond. The programme recently achieved a milestone as ISRO successfully carried out the test-firing of its Low Altitude Escape Motor (LEM) of Crew Escape System, from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

India has also received congratulations from multinational corporations like Google who commemorated the nation’s milestone through its #IndiaKiUdaan project.