New Delhi: Entrepreneur and Pilot Capt. Gopichand Thotakura, who in May this year became the first Indian to tour the edge of space on Blue Origin’s crewed flying mission, said on Monday that he was honoured to be a part of India’s space history.
Speaking exclusively to IANS, 30-year-old Thotakura expressed his excitement for the future generation of Indians who will push the boundaries of space.
The Vijayawada-born pilot is also the second Indian to travel into space, following Rakesh Sharma’s momentous trip in 1984 aboard Russia’s Soyuz T-11 spacecraft.
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He continues, “I feel very honoured to be a part of this country’s history in trying to send more people to space, whether it’s through Blue Origin or another organisation.”
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“I’m very excited for the next generation to take it forward and really push the boundaries of space,” he told IANS.
After Rakesh Sharma, three people of Indian origin reached space — Kalpana Chawla (1997), Sunita Williams (2006), and Raja Chari (2021) as NASA astronauts.
Earlier this year, in May, Thotakura soared to space for 11 minutes over the Karman line, an internationally accepted border of space 100 kilometres above the Earth’s surface.
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Thotakura has always been fascinated by the sky, which he discovered when he was eight when he visited a KLM aircraft cockpit.
Years later, on achieving the remarkable feat, he told IANS, “It’s not about the age; it’s really about trying to achieve what you want to dream, and if you can dream it, then you can do it.”
In an earlier interaction with IANS, Thotakura vouched for the Indian space sector’s “endless potential,” which was demonstrated with the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon’s South Pole.
“Space is not the limit anymore. We can reach far beyond what any other country has already reached. And what you saw with Chandrayaan is just a small example.”
Meanwhile, ISRO is set to launch Gaganyaan mission — the country’s first crewed flight to space — in 2025. The mission will carry three Indians to space.
India also aims to establish a space station—Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS)—by 2035 and land astronauts on the Moon by 2040.
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Photo: IANS
