The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying India’s Shubhanshu Shukla and three other astronauts on the Axiom-4 mission successfully splashed down off the coast of Southern California at 3:01 pm IST. Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, @AstroPeggy, Shux, @astro_slawosz, and Tibi! — SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 15, 2025 The crew had undocked from the Harmony module of the International Space Station at around 4:35 pm IST on July 14. Group Captain Shukla, a pilot with the Indian Air Force, has become only the second Indian to travel to space—following Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma's historic flight in 1984—and the first Indian to visit the $150 billion International Space Station. The landmark mission, arranged by private space firm Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA and ISRO, reportedly cost India around $70 million. Axiom Space stated that after spending approximately 433 hours in space—completing 18 days and 288 orbits around Earth, covering nearly 12.2 million kilometres—the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew has officially begun its journey back home.
