New Delhi, 28 Jan (.) President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday said India is inching closer to a space tourism mission, lauding the recent success of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s voyage to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Axiom-4 mission, which she said marked a “historic leap in India’s space endeavours.”

Murmu said astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s visit to the International Space Station was the beginning of a historic journey.

In her address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, Murmu said space tourism was now within reach of Indians. “Shubhanshu Shukla’s reaching the International Space Station (ISS) is the beginning of a historic journey. In the coming years, India is moving towards building its own space station,” Murmu said.

“The nation is working enthusiastically on the Gaganyaan mission,” the president said, amid the thumping of desks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders present in the Lok Sabha chamber.

Shukla created history in June last year by becoming the first Indian to set foot on the ISS. He was conferred the Ashok Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award, on this Republic Day.

The President presented the award to Shukla during the Republic Day celebrations at Kartavya Path in the national capital.

The Group Captain’s mission as the pilot of Axiom-4 is seen as a stepping stone for India’s future space ambitions, including the country’s maiden human spaceflight under the Gaganyaan mission, scheduled for early next year, and the plan to build India’s own space station, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), by 2035.

. MBJ .