India, June 25 -- The Indian Air Force (IAF) described as a "deja vu" moment for India, the lift off of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla on Wednesday for the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission.

The Axiom-4 mission launch made Shubhanshu Shukla the first Indian astronaut head to the space for the ISS and only the second Indian in history to travel to space.

The mission, which took off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:01 pm IST, includes astronauts from four countries - India, the United States, Poland, and Hungary.

Shubhanshu Shukla, a native of Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, was selected for this commercial spaceflight by Axiom Space, alongside veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Slawosz Uznans...