New Delhi, 25 June

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla scripted history by embarking on a space odyssey along with three others to the International Space Station as part of a commercial mission by Axiom Space on Wednesday.

The much-delayed Axiom-4 mission blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 12.01 pm IST towards the ISS amid cheers from watch parties organised across the world, including at Shukla's City Montessori School in Lucknow where his parents witnessed the historic launch.

The Lucknow-born Shukla, former NASA astronaut Mission Commander Peggy Whitson, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary are part of the Axiom-4 mission that marks the return to space for the three nations.

Shukla became the first Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station, a journey that comes 41 years after Rakesh Sharma’s eight days in orbit as part of the then Soviet Union's Salyut-7 space station in 1984.

"Greetings from India.. have a fun time guys," Sharma said in a video message.

The targeted docking time is approximately 4.30 pm IST on Thursday, 26 June, NASA said in a statement.