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 milestone marks a triumphant return for India to human spaceflight, coming 41 years after Rakesh Sharma's pioneering mission in 1984.

The first astronauts in more than 40 years from India, Poland and Hungary have arrived at the International Space Station, ferried there by SpaceX on a private flight.