August 18, 2025
NEW DELHI – Astronaut Group Captain (IAF) Shubhanshu Shukla during early hours of Sunday arrived at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital to a rousing welcome.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, ISRO Chairman V Narayanan, along with others received him at the airport on his return to the country after his historic journey from space.
Taking to social media, the Union minister said, “A moment of pride for India! A moment of glory for ISRO! A moment of gratitude to the dispensation that facilitated this under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. India’s Space Glory touches the Indian soil… as the iconic son of Mother India, Shubhanshu Shukla lands at Delhi in the early hours of morning today.”
“Accompanying him, another equally accomplished Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, one of the astronauts selected for India’s first Human mission Gaganyaan who was India’s designated backup for the mission to the International Space Station. Privileged to receive both of them at the New Delhi Airport along with Delhi CM Smt. Rekha Gupta,” he added.
People welcomed him with drum beats, flowers and hailed his achievement as a proud moment for the entire nation.
Shukla, after concluding his historic journey to the International Space Station (ISS), returned to the planet in July. He is the second Indian to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma, who went on a space mission in 1984.
Shukla’s mission, where he represented the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and the learning from the same will contribute to the country’s future space research and missions.
Earlier, while boarding the plane to India, Shukla wrote on X, “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. 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.”