Shubhanshu Shukla To Return To Earth On July 14. Mission Extended By Four Days
- By Thetripurapost Desk, New Delhi
- Jul 11, 2025
- 520
Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will return to Earth on July 14. US space agency NASA gave this information on Thursday. Four crew members including Shubhanshu had reached the International Space Station (ISS) under the Axium-4 mission.
The Axium mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 25. The Dragon spacecraft docked at the International Space Station on June 26 after a 28-hour journey. However, this mission was of 14 days. Now the return of the astronauts will be delayed by four days.
Earlier on July 6, some pictures of Shubhanshu were released from the ISS station. In which Shubhanshu was seen looking at the Earth from the window of the Cupola module. The Cupola module is a dome-shaped observation window, which has 7 windows.
Shubhanshu had told the PM- no boundaries are visible from space:
Prime Minister Modi had a video call with Shubhanshu on June 28.
When PM Modi asked what he felt first after seeing the space, Group Captain Shukla said, 'From space, you don't see any boundaries. The whole earth looks united.'
Shubhanshu told PM Modi- India looks very grand from space. We see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets in a day. PM Modi asked Shubhanshu Shukla that you have gone to International Space Station with Gajar ka Halwa. Did you feed it to your colleagues? On this Shubhanshu said that yes, I sat and ate with my colleagues.
Shubhanshu Shukla is a part of the Axium-4 mission, for which India has paid Rs 548 crore for one seat. This is a private space flight mission, which is being done in partnership with the American space company Axium, NASA and SpaceX. This company sends private astronauts to the ISS in its spacecraft.
Shubhanshu will conduct 7 experiments of Indian Educational Institutes in ISS. Most of these are biological studies. He will conduct 5 other experiments with NASA, which will collect data for long space missions. The experiments conducted in this mission will strengthen India's Gaganyaan mission.
Under the agreement between the American space agency NASA and the Indian agency ISRO, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force has been selected for this mission. 41 years ago, India's Rakesh Sharma had traveled to space in 1984 in a Soviet Union spacecraft.
This experience of Shubhanshu will be useful in India's Gaganyaan mission. This is India's first human space mission, which aims to send Indian astronauts to the low orbit of the Earth and bring them back safely. It is likely to be launched in 2027. In India, astronauts are called Gaganyatri. Similarly, in Russia they are called cosmonauts and in China they are called taikonauts.
The International Space Station is a large spacecraft revolving around the Earth. Astronauts live in it and conduct experiments in micro gravity. It travels at a speed of 28,000 kilometers per hour. It completes one orbit around the Earth every 90 minutes. It has been built by 5 space agencies together. The first piece of the station was launched in November 1998.