The four crew members of Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission have departed the International Space Station (ISS) and are on their way home after an 18-day stay aboard the orbital outpost. Traveling inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon,

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.

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla has returned from the International Space Station (ISS) as the 18-day-long Ax-4 mission concluded on Tuesday. The Dragon spacecraft's splashdown was confirmed at 3:02 pm IST by mission commander Peggy Whitson in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego in Southern California.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, 'Grace', with the Ax-4 crew, including India's first ISS visitor, prepares for undocking after 20 days. Set to splashdown in the Pacific, the mission concludes with admiration and camaraderie expressed during the farewell ceremony.

After spending nearly 20 days on the International Space Station, the four-member crew of the private commercial Axiom 4 mission undocked on Monday morning and they are making their commute to Earth.