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 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.

The mission has generated a huge interest in India as it comes 41 years after cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to fly to space aboard a Russian Soyuz in 1984.