Image Source: Agencies

Aug 18, 2025: Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla arrived in India early on Sunday to a lavish welcome, with people at the Indira Gandhi International Airport waving the Tricolor and beating drums. He was only the second Indian to go into space thanks to his historic trip aboard the Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and ISRO Chairman V Narayanan greeted Shukla and back-up astronaut-designate Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair upon arrival at the airport. After spending nearly a year in the United States training for the space flight, Shukla was greeted home by his wife Kamna and son Kiash.

A special discussion on India's progress in space will take place on Monday in the Lok Sabha, focusing on Shukla's ISS mission and the role that space exploration can play in achieving a Viksit Bharat by 2047. Before traveling to Lucknow, Shukla is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India's space milestones will be celebrated by the government on August 22 and 23, which is also National Space Day. On June 25, Shukla's Axiom-4 mission launched from Florida, docked at the ISS the following day, and he returned to Earth on July 15. During the 18-day mission, Shukla collaborated with three other astronauts: Peggy Whitson (USA), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary).

Together, they carried out more than 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions. On Friday, Shukla and Nair attended the Indian Consulate in Houston's Independence Day celebrations. Addressing the 79th Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi on Friday said India was developing its own space station and noted that Group Captain Shukla had returned from a space mission. “From the space station, our Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned. He will be returning to India in the coming days,” Modi had stated.