India is brimming with pride after Shubhanshu Shukla became the first astronaut from the country to blast off to the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday, in a boost to the South Asian giant’s bid to become a space power.

The ISS spans 356 feet, just shy of an American football field’s length. It was assembled in space via 42 missions, 37 by NASA’s Space Shuttle and 5 by Russian rockets.

After a long and ardent wait of 41 years, India now has an astronaut in space. Lucknow-born Shukla is also the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma, who flew to space in 1984. “#Ax4 have entered the the Space_Station,” said Axiom Space in a post on social media platform X, more than hour after docking.