Telugu-origin-NRI Gopichand Thotakura is all set to become the first Indian to go to space as a tourist. He also happens to be the first Telugu individual to enter the space. He is one of the six candidates who have been selected by the aerospace company, Blue Origin, for its mission New Shephard-25 (NS-25).
Gopi was born in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada. He is the co-founder of the Atlanta-based holistic wellness organization “Preserve Life Corp”. He is also a trained pilot and worked in medical air evacuation services in India, in the past. He studied Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Blue Origin was started by Amazon’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos. It developed a fully reusable sub-orbital launch vehicle named “New Shephard” for space tourism.
In 2021, Bezos, along with three other individuals, toured the space in this launch vehicle. As of now, Blue Origin carried out six crewed missions. Some of them were paid passengers and others were guests.
In its upcoming mission NS-25, six candidates have been selected for space tour and Gopi is one of them. Each member of the NS-25 will carry a postcard with them, representing the dreams and aspirations of youngsters across the world.
