After spending 18 days on the International Space Station (ISS), during which he went around the Earth 288 times, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and his colleagues on the Axiom-4 mission began their 22-hour return journey to Earth on Monday afternoon.

Axiom-4's launch, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, was delayed due to a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon-9 rocket.

A stunning new video captures the Axiom-4 capsule's dramatic re-entry into Earth's atmosphere., US News, Times Now

ISRO spent around Rs 548 crore on the mission, which covered training, travel, and scientific operations aboard the ISS. This mission is seen as a stepping stone for India's ambitious human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan, planned for 2027.

A group of private astronauts are journeying home through outer space after spending a little more than two weeks at the International Space Station.

ISRO's insistence on rectifying a technical flaw in SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket potentially saved the Axiom-4 mission from disaster.

Privately funded American space company Axiom Space successfully finished its Ax-4 mission on Tuesday morning, returning astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary from the International Space Station, and safely splashing down off the Californian coast.

The four astronauts of Axiom Mission 4 were the latest to make a splashdown off the coast of California following a stint at the space station.

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned to Earth after spending 18 days at the International Space Station. He became the second Indian after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma to go to space since 1984 and the first Indian to go to the space station.