Florida, June 25 -- Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who is piloting the Axiom-4 mission that launched from Florida on Wednesday, said that India is returning to space after 41 years and called it an "amazing ride." Stating that the journey is the beginning of India's human space programme, he said the chest of Indians "should swell with pride."

The Axiom Mission 4 of Ax-4, launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 2:31 am Eastern Time (12 Noon IST).

In his remarks from onboard the Dragon spacecraft, Shukla said, "Namaskar, my dear countrymen, what a ride. We are back in the space once again after 41 years. It's an amazing ride. We are revolving around the Earth at a ...