Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla arrived in New Delhi on Sunday, following the successful completion of NASA’s Axiom-4 (AX-4) mission. He was welcomed at Indira Gandhi International Airport by Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, and his wife, Kamna Shukla. Shukla had been in space since June 25, when the mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US. He returned to Earth on July 15, after splashing down off the coast of California. This marked his place in history as the first Indian in 41 years to travel to space.
Prior to his return, Shukla shared an emotional message on X, reflecting on the mission. He expressed feelings of both sadness at leaving his team and excitement to reunite with family and friends. He further remarked that life is filled with mixed emotions. Shukla’s mission was part of the Axiom Space (AX-04) mission, which launched on SpaceX’s Falcon rocket. On the ISS, Shukla spent 18 days, conducting scientific experiments in microgravity. The mission aimed to garner experience for India’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight program. Shukla’s experiments aboard the ISS and Space Shuttle significantly contributed to India’s space research. The learnings from this mission will directly support the Gaganyaan project, which will initiate with unmanned flights later this year. The mission also highlighted the growing space cooperation between India and the US, with an agreement enabling an Indian astronaut to travel to the ISS under a US mission.