LOS ANGELES, United States: A multinational crew of astronauts, including the first space travelers from India, Poland, and Hungary to reach the International Space Station (ISS), has returned safely to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean aboard a SpaceX capsule.

The reentry marked the end of the Axiom-4 mission, the fourth privately funded spaceflight to the ISS organized by Texas-based Axiom Space in partnership with SpaceX. The capsule, dubbed Grace, landed off the coast of San Diego, California, around 2:30 a.m. PDT following a fiery descent through Earth's atmosphere.

Leading the mission was Peggy Whitson, a retired NASA astronaut and the U.S. agency's first female chief astronaut. Whitson, now with Axiom, extended her national record to 695 days in space across five missions.

"We're happy to be back," Whitson radioed to mission control moments after splashdown.

Joining her were Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary — representing their respective countries' first-ever ISS government missions.

During their 18-day stay, the astronauts conducted over 60 microgravity experiments and brought back a cache of scientific samples for Earth-based analysis.

For India, the mission is seen as a stepping stone toward the launch of its Gaganyaan crewed spacecraft, expected in 2027. Poland's astronaut flew under the European Space Agency, while Hungary's participant was part of the Hungarian to Orbit (HUNOR) program.

Axiom's fourth mission builds on its business model of launching astronauts sponsored by foreign governments and private clients. The company is also working to develop a commercial space station that could eventually replace the aging ISS by 2030.