Axiom-4 Countdown to Earth: Dragon's nosecone closed, secured for reentry, splashdown soon

Jul 15, 2025

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to visit the ISS, along with this crew for the Axiom-4 mission (Ax-4), is set for a splashdown int eh Pacific Ocean off the coast of California as the nosecone of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft 'Grace' has been closed and secured for reentry.

SpaceX made the announcement of the mission in a post on X, as the mission marks the final stages of the crew's return from the International Space Station (ISS) after almost 20 days in space.

The re-entry was done following the completion of the deorbit burn and the jettisoning of the trunk.

"Dragon's nosecone is closed and secured for reentry. Splashdown in ~26 minutes," SpaceX stated in a post on X.

"Dragon's deorbit burn is complete and the trunk has been jettisoned," stated another post.

According to SpaceX, the crew, aboard its Dragon spacecraft, announced their arrival with a "brief sonic boom" ahead of their splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

"Dragon and the Axiom Space Ax-4 crew are on track to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and splash down off the coast of San Diego at ~2:31 a.m. PT tomorrow. Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean," SpaceX stated.

The crew currently aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, Grace, are on their return journey, which will take approximately 22.5 hours back to Earth from the ISS.