Republic Day 2026: Shubhanshu Shukla awarded Ashoka Chakra. Who’s he and why has he been awarded?

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who created historical past by changing into the primary Indian to set foot on the Worldwide Area Station (ISS), was on Sunday awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award.

The honour was authorized by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of Republic Day as a part of the gallantry awards introduced for 70 armed forces personnel, together with six posthumous awardees.

In June final yr, Shukla grew to become the second Indian to journey to area and the primary to go to the ISS as a part of the landmark Axiom Mission-4 (Ax-4). His 18-day area mission got here 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma’s historic flight aboard the Russian Soyuz-11 mission, marking a significant milestone in India’s human spaceflight journey.

The choice to confer the Ashoka Chakra on Shukla is being seen as recognition of the rising strategic significance of the area sector. The celebrated award is often bestowed on navy personnel for displaying “most conspicuous bravery” throughout peacetime.

A extremely embellished fighter pilot, Shukla has logged over 2,000 hours of flying expertise on a variety of plane, together with the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier and An-32. He served because the pilot for the Axiom-4 mission and performed a key position in India’s increasing footprint in human area exploration.

Following the profitable mission, Shukla grew to become a family identify, along with his contributions — together with conducting superior scientific experiments aboard the ISS — drawing reward from international area consultants.

The Axiom-4 mission was carried out by US-based non-public agency Axiom Area, in collaboration with the Nationwide Aeronautics and Area Administration (NASA), the European Area Company (ESA) and the Indian Area Analysis Organisation (ISRO).

Among the many gallantry awards authorized this yr are one Ashoka Chakra, three Kirti Chakra, 13 Shaurya Chakra — together with one posthumous — one Bar to Sena Medal (gallantry), 44 Sena Medals (gallantry), six Nao Sena Medals (gallantry) and two Vayu Sena Medals.

Hailing from Lucknow, Group Captain Shukla was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Pressure in June 2006.