Space hero Shubhanshu Shukla lands to cheers; LS to discuss ISS sojourn

Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla arrived in India early Sunday to a grand reception, with crowds waving the Tricolour and beating the drums at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here. His landmark journey to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission made him only the second Indian to venture into space.

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. Shukla’s wife Kamna and son Kiash were also present to welcome him home after a nearly one-year stay in the US training for the space flight.

On Monday, the Lok Sabha will hold a special discussion on India’s space progress, highlighting Shukla’s ISS mission and the role of space exploration in achieving a Viksit Bharat by 2047. Shukla is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi before heading to his hometown Lucknow.

The government will mark India’s space milestones on August 22-23, coinciding with the National Space Day. Shukla’s Axiom-4 mission launched from Florida on June 25, docked at the ISS the next day and concluded with his return to Earth on July 15.

Along with three other astronauts -- Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland) and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) -- Shukla conducted over 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions during the 18-day mission.

Shukla and Nair participated in the Independence Day celebrations at the Indian Consulate in Houston on Friday. 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. “Our Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned from the space station. In the coming days, he is returning to India,” Modi had said.