New Delhi, Aug 15 (IANS) Even as IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is set to return to India this weekend, his family on Friday said they are “waiting excitedly”.

In June, Shukla became the first Indian to reach the International Space Station (ISS). He returned on July 15, after an 18-day mission, packed with several experiments, led by ISRO, and other activities on the orbital lab. Since then, he has been undergoing rehabilitation in the US.

“I am very excited. My son has successfully completed his mission and has come back. We are very excited that my son is coming back. We are trying to meet him as soon as possible. He is coming the day after tomorrow, and we will meet him in Delhi,” Shukla’s father, Shambhu Dayal Shukla, told IANS.

Confirming Shukla’s return, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday said that the IAF Group Captain will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi before traveling to his hometown of Lucknow to see his family.

He will then return to the capital for the National Space Day celebrations on August 23.

“I am very happy that my son is coming to India. We have been waiting for a month. The time has now come. I am very happy. But we are also waiting for him to come home,” Asha Shukla, the Indian astronaut’s mother, told IANS.

Shukla was part of the Axiom-4 private space mission, and his journey to the ISS is considered a significant milestone for India’s own human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan, which is targeting a launch by 2027.

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the mission, saying that Shukla has inspired a billion dreams and taken a significant step in advancing India’s space ambitions.

“IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is back from the International Space Station (ISS). Soon he will return to India. We are working on becoming self-reliant in the space sector, preparing for the launch of Gaganyaan, which is India’s flagship human spaceflight programme. We will make our own space station,” the Prime Minister said, in his Independence Day address.

–IANS

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