'India’s Space Glory Touches Indian Soil': Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla Returns Home After Historic ISS Mission

New Delhi: Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla returned to India in the early hours of Sunday (August 17, 2025), completing his historic journey to the International Space Station (ISS). Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, and ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan greeted Mr. Shukla at the airport. Shukla spent one year in the United States training for the Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station.   

Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Mr. Shukla's backup astronaut, has also returned to his hometown. 

Shukla was the pilot of NASA's Axiom-4 Space Mission, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 25. He returned to Earth on July 15.

“…As the Iconic Son Of Mother India Lands in Delhi”- Union Minister 

Union Minister Jitendra Singh took on X and said, “India’s space glory touches Indian soil... as the iconic son of Mother India, #Gaganyatri Shubhanshu Shukla, lands in Delhi in the early hours of this morning.”

He further added, “Accompanying him, another equally accomplished Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, one of the astronauts selected for India’s first human mission Gaganyaan, who was India’s designated backup for the mission to the International Space Station #ISS.

“Goodbyes Are Hard, But We Need to Keep Moving in Life"

Earlier on Saturday, Shukla shared a smiling photograph of himself seated in an aeroplane on Instagram, expressing that he was filled with mixed emotions as he departed from the US and looked forward to returning to India to share his experiences with everyone back home.

Before landing, he wrote on X, “As I sit on the plane to come back to India, I have a mix of emotions running through my heart.”

He further said, “Having received incredible love and support from everyone during and after the mission, I can't wait to come back to India to share my experiences with all of you.”

Reflecting on the moment, Shukla added, “Goodbyes are hard, but we need to keep moving in life. As my commander @astro_peggy fondly says, ‘the only constant in spaceflight is change’. I believe that applies to life as well. I guess at the end of the day - ‘Yun hi chala chal rahi - jeevan gaadi hai.’”

PM Modi Assigns ‘Homework’ to Shukla

Shukla is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visit his birthplace of Lucknow shortly. He is expected to travel to the capital to attend the National Space Day events on August 22 and 23.

Shukla and his backup astronaut, Prashanth Nair, attended the Independence Day celebrations at the Indian Consulate in Houston on Friday.

Addressing the 79th Independence Day festivities at the Red Fort on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that while Group Captain Shukla was in space, PM Modi assigned him a "homework" to document the whole sequence of his training and stay at the space station for what would become the manual for India's own Gaganyaan program, the country's first human spaceflight program. 

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