Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the second Indian to travel to space and the first to visit the International Space Station (ISS), is expected to land in India this weekend, Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced on Thursday.
Shukla, who was part of the Axiom-4 private space mission, will briefly stay in Delhi, where he is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi before heading to his hometown, Lucknow, for an emotional reunion with his family. He will return to the capital on August 23 to participate in the National Space Day celebrations.
The Axiom-4 mission, launched from Florida on June 25, marked a historic chapter in India’s space story. Shukla, alongside veteran American astronaut Peggy Whitson, Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu, spent 18 days aboard the ISS, conducting over 60 scientific experiments and 20 outreach sessions aimed at inspiring the next generation of scientists and space enthusiasts.
Their work covered a wide range of research, from microgravity’s effects on human health to advanced material science, with results expected to aid not just space exploration but also practical applications on Earth. The crew’s return on July 15, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, marked the successful completion of the mission.
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Shukla’s journey comes more than four decades after Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian in space in 1984 aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11 mission. Unlike Sharma, whose mission was in collaboration with the USSR, Shukla’s participation in the Axiom-4 flight reflects a new era where private space missions complement national programmes.
The mission is being seen as a precursor to India’s own Gaganyaan human spaceflight project, which aims to send Indian astronauts into low-Earth orbit by 2027. The knowledge gained from Axiom-4, particularly on long-duration space habitation and international collaboration, is expected to contribute directly to Gaganyaan’s planning and execution.
Prime Minister Modi hailed Shukla’s achievement soon after the mission concluded, declaring that “Shukla has inspired a billion dreams and taken a significant step forward in India’s space ambitions.”
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