Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, pilot of Axiom Mission 4, urged resource conservation at the Climate Innovation Summit. He shared insights from space, stating, 'your yesterday's coffee is your tomorrow's coffee,' to highlight recycling.
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian to set foot aboard the International Space Station and pilot of the Axiom Mission 4, addressed the Climate Innovation Summit 2026 at IIM Bangalore, emphasising the importance of resource conservation on Earth. Beginning his address with a symbolic tree planting, Group Captain Shukla shared insights from his 20-day mission in space, highlighting the critical nature of recycling and careful resource management.
Lessons from the Cosmos
"In space, your yesterday's coffee is your tomorrow's coffee," he said, underlining how every resource must be reused and respected. Space exploration, he said, may seem impossible to many, yet it is precisely this pursuit of the impossible that drives humanity to innovate in material science, technology, and the art of living with less.
"The discipline of space teaches what Earth has forgotten: that every drop, every breath, every gram of matter is sacred," he said. "In this entire galaxy, there is no other planet like Earth. Yet here we are, wasting, almost abusing, every resource we have been given, disconnected from the generations who must inherit this world. When you are in space, the Earth looks like heaven. And here, living on this heavenly planet, we keep searching for heaven elsewhere," he asserted.
Appreciation for Green India Challenge
Group Captain Shukla generously appreciated the Green India Challenge. The citizen-led movement built by Ignited Minds Organisation has mobilised 196 million trees planted and 44 million citizens under former Rajya Sabha member and Green Global Icon Joginipally Santosh Kumar.
'The Greatest Frontier is Right Here'
Santosh recognised it as exactly the kind of grassroots accountability the planet needs: a movement where every citizen takes ownership of conserving our natural resources, one tree at a time.
"This is the spark we carry forward. An astronaut who has touched the edge of the cosmos returned to tell us that the greatest frontier is not out there, it is right here, beneath our feet, in the soil we plant, the water we save, and the air we protect for our children," Santosh said. He concluded by urging citizens to protect Earth's resources and embrace sustainability in daily life, stating that the greatest frontier is not in space but right here on the planet. (ANI)
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