Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla To Return To India Tomorrow, To Meet PM Modi On Monday: Reports

New Delhi: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the second Indian to go to space, will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and share his experience during his journey and stay at the International Space Station (ISS), which would help India in its maiden space programme, Gaganyaan, reported NDTV, citing sources.

Notably, Grp Cpt Shukla became the second India to travel to space after Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma. Grp Cpt Shukla is currently on his way back to India. He piloted the successful Axiom-4 mission to the ISS. The Indian astronaut posted his picture from the plane on his Instagram account.

"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," his post read.

Shubhanshu Shukla's Instagram Post:

"Goodbyes are hard, but we need to keep moving in life. As my commander @astro_peggy fondly says “the only constant in spaceflight is change”. I believe that applies to life as well. I guess at the end of the day -“Yun hi chala chal rahi - jeevan gaadi hai samay pahiya”," he added.

He will land in India on Sunday. He will also participate in the National Space Day celebrations on August 23.

On July 15, the IAF officer and three other members of Axion Mission- 4 returned to Earth after spending 18 days at the ISS. The other three members of the mission are - Peggy Whitson (USA), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary). The crew also witnessed over 300 sunrises and sunsets from the orbital lab.