group captain Shubhanshu ShuklaThe 20-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this year gave India a rare, first-hand look at how the world’s most complex engineering project works on a normal day – and how it copes when things aren’t quite normal. As India prepares for sustained human presence in low-Earth orbit via the Indian Space Station, Shukla’s reflections offer a ground-breaking account of what the ISS achieved, where it faltered, and how India should shape its long-term strategy.In this exclusive interview with TOI, Shax talks about the moments that defined his time on the station, the value of international collaboration and the design philosophy that India can adopt for missions in the coming decades.When you look back at your time spent on the ISS, what moment best represents what the station was meant to achieve?The International Space Station remains one of humanity’s brightest examples of what happens when engineering ambition meets international collaboration, and miraculously, everyone agrees on the same orbit. Conceived in an era when floppy disks were still in fashion and the Internet dial-up played like a flute, the ISS was created to push the boundaries of science in microgravity, test systems needed for future deep space missions, and serve as a beacon of peaceful cooperation between nations that otherwise rarely agree on any terrestrial issue.Construction of this orbital leviathan began in 1998 and was completed in 2011. To assemble it, humanity performed a kind of astronomical Lego project that required more than 1,000 hours of spacewalks and more than 40 space shuttle flights. outcome? The largest continuously inhabited laboratory on the planet, a structure the size of a football field revolves around the Earth at a speed of 28,000 km/h, completing one revolution every 90 minutes.During my own mission on the ISS, the station felt exactly as it was designed, a global village. We had 11 crew members representing six nationalities, a small floating model of united nationsExcept with speeches and with better ideas. During our 20-day stay, we conducted more than 60 scientific experiments on biology, materials science, human physiology and space technology. We also held STEM demonstrations that connected us with students around the world, sparking curiosity, answering broader questions, and hopefully inspiring the next generation of inventors, engineers, and dreamers.Looking back, the essence of what the ISS had aimed to achieve in those 20 days was fully understood. For a machine conceived with the technology of the 1990s, when the most futuristic thing on Earth was a Nokia phone, to not only remain relevant but meet and expand its mission objectives is extraordinary. The station doesn’t just orbit the Earth; It revolves around the idea that collaboration, curiosity and courage can create something remarkable even 400 kilometers above our heads.Did working with the international team change your perspective on what India should prioritize as it builds its human spaceflight capability?Working with crew members of different nationalities confirmed something fundamental about space exploration: At its core, it is a deeply collaborative human endeavor. Space doesn’t care about passports, accents or geopolitical boundaries. Up there, the only boundary you see is the thin blue line of Earth’s atmosphere.During my training for this mission, I found myself flying across continents more often than airline safety videos. From meticulous engineers in Japan, to precision-driven teams in Europe, to seasoned experts in the United States, and to the ever-innovative minds in India, each group brought its own culture, expertise, and philosophy to the table. It was like assembling a global orchestra where every instrument mattered, and the symphony was a successful human space flight.Before this mission, I knew conceptually that space missions required international coordination. But seeing it firsthand – the late-night calls across time zones, the joint simulations, the integrated training programs, and the sheer number of people working quietly behind the scenes – made me appreciate the astonishing complexity of sending even a single human into space. A single crewed mission represents thousands of hours of planning, countless technical discussions, and the collective will of teams who may never meet but still trust each other completely.In addition to meeting scientific and operational goals, this collaboration builds something equally important: relationships and trust between people from different cultures and backgrounds. In space, camaraderie is not optional; This is oxygen for the mission. You quickly learn that no matter where someone comes from, if they work in human space flight, they speak a common language: space.As we move forward on our journey in human space exploration, it is important that we hold on to this fundamental principle. The power of collaboration is not just a feeling; It is the engine that drives progress. Space has always pushed boundaries, and the work we do should respect that spirit. The only way humanity can reach further into the universe is to go there together.
Shax with Axiom-4 and other ISS crew – photo credit Axiom Space
From an astronaut’s perspective, what did the ISS do right in long-duration life support and crew operations—and where did it fall short?The International Space Station’s first module, the Russian-built Zarya, appropriately named “Dawn,” was launched in 1998, marking the beginning of humanity’s most ambitious construction project, if not on Earth. Over the next 13 years, we assembled this orbital giant piece by piece, like a cosmic Ikea kit, except that the manual was 10,000 pages long and required spacewalks instead of Allen keys.One of the greatest design triumphs of the ISS was its modular architecture. This wasn’t just cleverness; This was visionary. The modular approach meant that components, scientific racks, power systems, and the entire habitable module could be added, upgraded, or even replaced long after launch. Many of the station’s capabilities today, from advanced biology laboratories to new solar arrays, were not on the drawing boards in the 1990s. Yet the structure proved its resilience and welcomed him graciously.Another stroke of genius was the strict standardization of interfaces and protocols. Despite contributions from various space agencies—NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, and CSA—each with their own engineering philosophies, the requirement was simple: any modules added to the ISS had to integrate seamlessly with the command-and-control backbone. This ensured that a Japanese experiment rack, a European robotic arm, and an American airlock could all work in harmony.Flexibility for maintenance and upgrades to the orbit was equally important. Astronauts frequently changed hardware, rerouted cables, installed new equipment and even deployed new solar arrays. When you build for decades of use, you can’t predict every challenge, so the ISS needs enough adaptability to absorb surprises.That said, the ISS was not designed to be completely future-proof. Technology has advanced rapidly over the past two decades, and modern ISS interiors sometimes look like an enthusiastic octopus left with a box of cables. This is high-functioning anarchy.As we look ahead, this is the lesson we must carry forward: everything we design today must be able to absorb the technology of tomorrow.As the ISS nears retirement, what are the key lessons India should apply when planning future partnerships?As the ISS approaches its well-earned retirement after more than two decades in orbit, it leaves behind a legacy and a wealth of lessons. My time spent on the space station made one truth clear: Before building a space station, you must start with a clearly defined question – what is it for?Is this a research laboratory? A technology testing ground? A step towards the moon? A commercial outpost? A training ground? Purpose shapes everything that comes next.ISS has also shown the power of collaboration. At a time when nations often disagree on Earth, the station remains a counter-example, an engineering handshake orbiting above geopolitics. It is still the only structure where many countries can send astronauts, run experiments and access environments that are otherwise inaccessible. India has been a proud beneficiary of this openness.But the ISS also teaches caution: mismatched priorities, slow adaptation to emerging technologies, and design decisions frozen in the 1990s reveal pitfalls to avoid.Moving forward, the challenge is to turn the ISS story into a blueprint for the next chapter of human presence in space. Its cables and maintenance logs contain lessons on what should be done, what should never be done again, and what should be done better. The ISS isn’t just being retired; This is passing the torch.
Shax looks towards Earth from the Cupola module on the ISS – Image credit: Shubhanshu Shukla-ISRO
As India plans a long-term presence in low-Earth orbit, what design or mission principles would you keep, modify or abandon from the ISS?The philosophy of modularity has been one of the ISS’s greatest gifts to space engineering. In microgravity, “weight” loses its meaning, and you can launch components separately, even years apart, and assemble them like an orbital jigsaw. But modularity only works if you treat construction as a long-term strategy, a roadmap spanning decades.Flexibility is another key lesson. Space teaches you quickly that no plan survives the first contact with reality. The ISS construction phase was a masterclass in adapting to the surprises offered by hardware mismatches, alignment quirks, and orbital mechanics. Design must have the flexibility to absorb new insights and evolving technologies.A station is not just a module; It is an ecosystem. Earth-based infrastructure—mission control, simulators, life-support test beds, logistics chains—matters just as much as the hardware in orbit. Astronauts also need operational flexibility. They become builders, plumbers, electricians, scientists and troubleshooters.Follows design objectives. Before drawing the first bolt pattern or finalizing the airlock diameter, the mission objective must be clear.As India prepares for the Indian Space Station, we are at a defining moment. Insights from decades of ISS operations – its triumphs, surprises, and even its cluttered cable aesthetics – are guiding our approach. We now have the opportunity to design a next-generation station informed by a quarter century of actual orbital experience.
