India’s return to human spaceflight after more than four decades is more than a technological achievement ~ it is a statement of intent. With Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla becoming only the second Indian to journey into space, the country has sent a clear message: it is ready to rejoin the league of nations shaping the future of space exploration. The moment is both symbolic and strategic. Symbolic, because it revives national memories of Group Captain Rakesh Sharma’s trailblazing 1984 flight aboard a Soviet Soyuz, and reawakens a long-dormant aspiration.

Strategic, because this mission ~ though launched from foreign soil ~ lays essential groundwork for India’s indigenous human spaceflight ambitions, notably the planned Gaganyaan mission and beyond. The current mission, facilitated........

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