Shubhanshu Shukla Reaches Earth As Dragon Spacecraft Splashes Down Off California
Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned to Earth. The moment of his splashdown in California was captured in a video.
Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla returned to Earth on Tuesday after his 18-day space mission. He, along with the crew, splashed down in California.
A video shared by news agency ANI via Axiom Space showed the moment Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and the Axiom-4 crew aboard the Dragon spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
#WATCH | In a historic moment, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and the Axiom-4 crew aboard Dragon spacecraft splashes down in the Pacific Ocean after an 18-day stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS)(Video Source: Axiom Space/YouTube) pic.twitter.com/qLAq2tyW5S
— ANI (@ANI) July 15, 2025
As Shukla touched down, his family could be seen rejoicing and celebrating his comeback after an 18-day stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Shubhanshu Shukla scripted history by becoming the first person from India to reach the International Space Station.
'Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, AstroPeggy, Shux, astro_slawosz, and Tibi!" SpaceX wrote in a post on X.
Shukla, along with fellow astronauts Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), boarded SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft 'Grace" at 3:30 am CT (2 pm IST) on Monday.
The Indian astronaut flew to the ISS on June 26.
He also became the second Indian astronaut to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma's 1984 odyssey.
The 18-minute-long de-orbit burn took place over the Pacific Ocean as the spacecraft re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.
The astronauts also had a blackout period, where the spacecraft lost communication signals for about seven minutes.
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First Published:
July 15, 2025, 15:09 IST
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