Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, who scripted history with his visit to the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this year, is set to return to India on Sunday. His homecoming comes as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sharpens focus on its ambitious Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission, slated for 2027.
Shukla, who trained in the United States for a year as part of the Axiom-4 private space mission, expressed his emotions in an Instagram post from the flight back home.
Sharing a smiling photo of himself seated on the plane, he wrote, “As I sit on the plane to come back to India, I have a mix of emotions running through my heart. I feel sad leaving a fantastic group of people behind who were my friends and family for the past one year during this mission. I am also excited about meeting all my friends, family and everyone in the country for the first time post mission. I guess this is what life is — everything all at once.”
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The 39-year-old astronaut is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi after landing in Delhi, and will later travel to his hometown Lucknow, before returning to the capital for the National Space Day celebrations on August 22–23.
Shukla, along with his backup astronaut Prashanth Nair, had participated in the Independence Day celebrations at the Indian Consulate in Houston earlier this week, marking his final public engagement in the US before departure.
The Axiom-4 mission, which launched from Florida on June 25 and docked at the ISS a day later, saw Shukla spend 18 days in space. He returned to Earth on July 15, after a packed schedule of more than 60 scientific experiments and 20 outreach sessions aimed at inspiring students and researchers across the globe.
Onboard the mission were also veteran American astronaut Peggy Whitson, Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu. Together, the international crew tested technologies, carried out biomedical studies, and engaged in cross-cultural outreach while orbiting 400 km above Earth.
