The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three other Axiom-4 mission crew members, completed a successful splashdown off the coast of California at 3 pm IST on Tuesday, July 15. The spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) around 4:50 pm IST on Monday and took approximately 22 and a half hours to return to Earth after an 18-day mission during which the crew conducted over 60 experiments. Piloted by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Ax-4 spacecraft, named ‘Grace,’ landed safely in the Pacific Ocean before the crew was retrieved by helicopters for a re-acclimatisation period.
This mission follows a precedent set by Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams, who landed in a SpaceX capsule called ‘Freedom’ after a nine-month ISS mission earlier this year. Axiom-4 is the 18th crewed spaceflight operated by SpaceX since 2020 and highlights Axiom’s growing role in commercial spaceflight, providing access to low-Earth orbit for private and international astronauts. Additionally, Axiom is developing a commercial space station intended to succeed the ISS, which NASA plans to retire around 2030.
The crew included Commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and Axiom employee, alongside international astronauts Shubhanshu Shukla from India, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. For these countries, this mission marks a significant return to crewed spaceflight after decades. For India, it represents progress toward its first independent crewed mission under the Gaganyaan program, scheduled for 2027. During their 18-day stay aboard the ISS, the crew conducted experiments focused on medicine, agriculture, and space exploration, investigating the effects of microgravity on food production, water management, and human physiology.
