Republic Day 2026: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is expected to be honoured with the Ashok Chakra on Republic Day. According to sources, Shukla will receive the award for becoming the first Indian ISRO astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) as a pilot for the privately organised Axiom-4 mission.
Who is Shubhanshu Shukla?
Shubhanshu Shukla is a Group Captain and test pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and a gaganyatri (astronaut) with ISRO. In July 2025, he became the first ISRO astronaut to visit the ISS while participating in Axiom Mission 4, a private spaceflight. He is the second Indian to travel to space, following Rakesh Sharma’s historic flight in 1984. He was married with Kamna Shubha Shukla who is a dentist in 2009.
Shubhanshu Shukla Parents
Shubhanshu Shukla was born in Lucknow. His father’s name is Shambhu Dayal Shukla, a retired government officer, and mother’s name is Asha Shukla, a homemaker.Â
Shubhanshu Shukla Education
Shubhanshu Shukla completed his schooling at City Montessori School. Inspired by the Kargil War in 1999, he cleared the National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination.
He graduated with a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the NDA in 2005 and was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in June 2006.
Shubhanshu Shukla Career
As of 2025, Shukla holds the rank of Group Captain. He is a qualified test pilot with over 2,000 flying hours on a wide range of aircraft, including Antonov An-32, BAE Hawk, Dornier 228, MiG-21, MiG-29, SEPECAT Jaguar, and Sukhoi Su-30MKI.
In 2019, Shukla was shortlisted for ISRO’s Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. He was among four candidates selected for training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia from 2020 to 2021. He later completed mission-specific training at ISRO in Bangalore and earned a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science.
On 27 February 2024, ISRO officially named him a member of India’s first human spaceflight mission team.
Shubhanshu Shukla To Receive Uttar Pradesh Gaurav Samman
The Uttar Pradesh government will also recognise Shubhanshu Shukla for bringing pride to the state both nationally and internationally. As per report, he will be conferred the ‘Uttar Pradesh Gaurav Samman’ during the three-day Uttar Pradesh Day 2026 celebrations, starting Saturday.
Shukla, a native of Lucknow, made history when he reached the ISS after launching aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on June 26, 2025. He became the first Indian astronaut from ISRO to set foot on the ISS, though he is the second Indian overall to travel to space, after Rakesh Sharma in 1984.
Alongside Shukla, the UP government will also honour Alakh Pandey, Dr Hariom Panwar, Rashmi Arya, and Dr Sudhanshu Singh.
