Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla returned safely to Earth on Tuesday, marking the successful conclusion of a groundbreaking mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the first by an Indian national. Shukla was part of the four-member Axiom-4 crew aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule Grace, which splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California at approximately 3:01 pm IST. The capsule’s safe landing followed a fiery reentry and a 22-hour return journey from orbit.
PM Modi hailed Shukla’s mission as a historic milestone
“I join the nation in welcoming Group Captain Shukla as he returns to Earth from his historic mission to Space. As India’s first astronaut to have visited International Space Station, he has inspired a billion dreams through his dedication, courage and pioneering spirit. It marks another milestone towards our own Human Space Flight Mission – Gaganyaan,” PM Modi said in a post on X.
Shukla, an Indian Air Force pilot, flew alongside veteran US astronaut Peggy Whitson, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. They boarded Grace at 3:30 a.m. CT (2:00 pm IST) on Monday, undocking from the ISS to begin their return to Earth. The mission marked several historic firsts, not only for Shukla, who became the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma’s 1984 flight, but also for Poland and Hungary, which sent their first astronauts to the International Space Station.
India’s space agency ISRO celebrated the success, calling it a “milestone” for the country’s space ambitions. Shukla’s mission is seen as a stepping stone toward the launch of India’s first crewed spaceflight, Gaganyaan, targeted for 2027.
During his over two-week stay aboard the ISS, Shukla completed more than 310 orbits of Earth, covering an estimated 13 million kilometers, or roughly 33 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. The crew witnessed over 300 sunrises and sunsets from orbit.
ISRO said that Shukla completed all seven planned microgravity experiments, achieving all mission objectives. “Experiments on Indian strain of tardigrades, myogenesis, sprouting of methi and moong seeds, cyanobacteria, microalgae, crop seeds, and the Voyager display have been successfully completed,” ISRO said in a statement.
