India, June 25 -- Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has scripted history as he is piloting the SpaceX Dragon aircraft launched for the much-anticipated Axiom 4 mission to go to the International Space Station.

The liftoff took place at 12.01 pm on Wednesday, June 25, after multiple delays.

Shukla is the first astronaut to travel to the International Space Station in the last forty years, only after revered Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma. Sharma spent eight days in orbit as part of the then Soviet Union's Salyut-7 space station in 1984.

Track live updates of Axiom 4 mission launch here.

Shukla, who is an astronaut with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is accompanied by former NASA astronaut and Commander fo...