[4][5] The cost of Shukla's seat on the mission has been quoted as being in the "mid-$60-million range" (around 506 crore rupees).

He completed his NDA course in 2005 and commissioned into the Fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in June 2006.

He is a combat leader and seasoned test pilot with about 2,000 hours of flying experience across various aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier 228, and An-32.

[7][8] Shukla was included in the astronaut selection process in 2019 by the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), an organization under the Indian Air Force.

[3] His name as a member of the astronaut team was first officially announced in public on 27 February 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the names of the astronaut team members for India's first space mission at ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.