Shubhanshu Shukla to return to India on August 19, to fulfill PM Modi

Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is about to return to India on Sunday (August 16, 2025) after his historic go to to the International Space Station (ISS) and is keen to share his experiences with pals and colleagues again residence as ISRO eyes its maiden human spaceflight in 2027.

Mr. Shukla, who has been within the U.S., coaching for the Axiom-4 mission to ISS for the previous yr, is anticipated to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi and journey to his hometown Lucknow quickly after.

He is anticipated to be again within the capital to take part within the National Space Day celebrations on August 22-23.

Mr. Shukla posted on Instagram a smiling {photograph} of himself sitting in an aeroplane, and stated in its caption that he was full of blended feelings as he left the U.S. and couldn’t wait to return to India to share his experiences with everybody again residence.

“As I sit on the plane to come back to India, I have a mix of emotions running through my heart. I feel sad leaving a fantastic group of people behind who were my friends and family for the past one year during this mission. I am also excited about meeting all my friends, family and everyone in the country for the first time post mission. I guess this is what life is — everything all at once,” Mr. Shukla stated within the publish.

“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. Goodbyes are hard but we need to keep moving in life. As my commander Peggy Whitson fondly says, ‘the only constant in spaceflight is change’. I believe that applies to life as well,” he stated.

Mr. Shukla additionally added, “I guess at the end of the day -‘Yun hi chala chal rahi – jeevan gaadi hai samay pahiya’,” recalling the track from the Bollywood film Swades that was on his playlist simply earlier than he launched into the Axiom-4 mission to the ISS on June 25 from the U.S.

Mr. Shukla and his backup astronaut, Prashanth Nair, participated within the Independence Day celebrations on the Indian Consulate in Houston on Friday (August 15, 2025).

Addressing the 79th Independence Day celebrations on the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (August 15, 2025) stated India was creating its personal area station and recalled that Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned from an area mission.

“Our Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned from the space station. In the coming days, he is returning to India,” Mr. Modi had stated.

Mr. Shukla was a part of the Axiom-4 personal area mission that lifted off from Florida on June 25 and docked on the International Space Station on June 26. He returned to Earth on July 15.

Along with three different astronauts — Peggy Whitson (U.S.), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) — Shukla carried out over 60 experiments and 20 outreach periods in the course of the 18-day mission.