NEW DELHI: Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is set to return to India this Sunday after completing a landmark mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). His much-awaited homecoming comes as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) gears up for its first human spaceflight, targeted for 2027.
Shukla, who spent the past year in the United States preparing for the Axiom-4 mission, is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi before traveling to his hometown, Lucknow. He will later return to Delhi to take part in the National Space Day celebrations scheduled for August 22–23.
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In an Instagram post shared from an aircraft, Shukla expressed mixed emotions about leaving the US after a year-long training and mission. “As I sit on this plane to return home, I feel both sadness and joy sad to leave behind friends who became family during this journey, but excited to finally meet everyone in India after the mission,” he wrote. He added that goodbyes are difficult but essential to moving forward, quoting his mission commander Peggy Whitson, who often said: “The only constant in spaceflight is change.”
Reflecting on his journey, Shukla also mentioned listening to a song from the Bollywood film Swades before his historic launch on June 25. “At the end of the day, life keeps moving just like a train on the tracks of time,” he noted.
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Ahead of his return, Shukla joined the Independence Day celebrations at the Indian Consulate in Houston alongside his backup astronaut Prashanth Nair. On August 15 at the Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi also acknowledged Shukla’s successful mission, saying, “Our Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned from the space station. In the coming days, he is returning to India.”
Shukla was part of the private Axiom-4 mission, which launched from Florida on June 25, docked with the ISS on June 26, and returned to Earth on July 15. During the 18-day stay, he collaborated with fellow astronauts Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) to carry out more than 60 scientific experiments and 20 outreach events aboard the space station.
— With inputs from agencies