Now a star in orbit, Shubhanshu Shukla was always a natural in the sky
BENGALURU: He was the kind of cadet who didn't just learn to fly — he belonged in the sky. Years before Group Captain
Shubhanshu Shukla
became the first Indian to board the International Space Station (ISS), he was already turning heads in the cockpit of a Super Dimona aircraft at the National Defence Academy (NDA).
Back then, he was just another cadet from the Hunter Squadron — call sign not yet famous, dreams still earthbound. But to the instructor watching closely from the co-pilot's seat, one thing was clear: the young man had wings.
'He had a natural flair for flying,' recalled Group Captain (retd) Anupam Banerjee, Shukla's first flying instructor at NDA. 'In just the first few sorties, we could tell. Some cadets struggle with the feel of the controls or spatial awareness.
Not Shukla. He was confident, intuitive — a very natural flier.'
It was 20 years ago. The aircraft was an Austrian-built HK-36TC Super Dimona, used for ab-initio flying exposure at NDA before cadets move on to formal pilot training at the Air Force Academy.
Shux, as Banerjee recalled, aced those initial flights — an early indication of the career that lay ahead: Jaguars, test pilot school, and finally, a ride to low-Earth orbit on Axiom-4 (Ax-4).
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But what truly stood out, Banerjee said, wasn't just skill. 'He was sincere, extremely hardworking, and that's a rare combination when paired with ability. I told him then — you'll go far if you keep this up.'
Years later, when Shukla was preparing for spaceflight, he sent Banerjee a message. He hadn't forgotten the words. 'He told me he remembered what I'd said: that it's not enough to be a good flier or officer — you must be a good human being.
That stayed with him. And when he told me that, it meant a lot.'
Banerjee had flown with Shukla only seven or eight times, but the connection endured. 'He always stayed in touch. Not many do. Whenever he reached a big moment in life, he'd send a message. That says a lot about the man he's become.'
Before launch, the two had one last conversation. 'I knew he was about to enter quarantine, so I wished him luck. I told him life had already prepared him for what was coming.
And that, a part of me was going to space with him.'
Watching Shukla dock with the ISS, Banerjee says he felt something beyond pride. 'It's still unbelievable to me — that someone I trained, someone who first flew with me, is now in space. It's not just about reaching orbit. It's about who he is as a person. That matters even more.'
In a way, Shukla's story is a flight path traced not just in the sky, but in character. 'When your students do well, you feel proud. But when they turn out to be fine human beings too — that's greater joy.'
So yes, Shux may now be astronaut number 634. But long before he floated weightlessly in a pressurised module, he was already soaring — on skill, sincerity, and the sort of quiet steel that can't be taught.
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