Astronaut Subanshu Sukla today became the first Indian to set foot on the International Space Station (ISS).

The Axiom-4 mission docked with the orbiting laboratory and its four-member crew to pass on to the ISS.

Leading the Ax-4. mission, which lifted off last Wednesday, is former Nasa veteran Peggy Whitson and piloted by Shukla. The crew, among others, includes another Pole and a Hungarian, who will spend two weeks on the ISS.

Captain Shukla is only the second Indian to travel to space. His journey comes 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to fly in a Russian Soyuz in 1984. The two European astronauts are also bringing their countries back to space after more than four decades.

This is a commercial flight operated by Houston-based private company Axiom Space. It took off from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 02:31 (09:31 GMT) yesterday (Wednesday).

With their arrival, the total ISS crew strength now stands at 11 people.

The mission is a collaboration between NASA, the Indian space agency Isro, the European Space Agency (Esa) and SpaceX.

During their two-week mission, the crew will spend most of their time conducting 60 science experiments, including seven designed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

Isro, which paid 5 billion rupees (about 42 million euros) to secure a place for Captain Shukla on Ax-4 and his training, says the hands-on experience he will gain during his trip to the ISS will help India in its manned spaceflights.

Isro has said it wants to launch the country’s first manned space flight in 2027 and has announced ambitious plans to build a space station by 2035 and send an astronaut to the moon by 2040.