Feeling proud, he said that he was now part of India's space history. This end of May saw Capt Gopichand Thotakura become the first Indian to tour the edge of space on board Blue Origin's crewed flight mission. Speaking exclusively to IANS, Thotakura said, "The next generation of Indians will push the frontiers of space.
He is also the second Indian to visit space, after Rakesh Sharma made history being the first to fly to space on Russia's Soyuz T-11 spacecraft in 1984.
"I feel very honored to be part of the history of this country, trying to send more people to space, whether it be through Blue Origin or any of these companies," said Thotakura.
"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.
This flight took place in May 2021, with Thotakura flying for 11 minutes above the Karman line, internationally regarded as being the boundary of space 100 km above the Earth's surface.
This was the seventh human flight mission undertaken by the Jeff Bezos-owned company. It also carried these other 6 people - 90-year-old Ed Dwight, Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron Kenneth L. Hess, and Carol Schaller.
He said, "By this achievement, it's not about the age, it's really about trying to reach what you want to dream, and if you can dream it, then you can do it. " Thotakura, inspired by the sky at the age of 8 by a visit to the plane cockpit of KLM, said, "it is not about the age, it's really about trying to reach what you want to dream and if you can dream it, then you can do it. ".
In an earlier interaction with IANS, Thotakura had 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".
ISRO, on the other hand, has plans to launch its crewed Gaganyaan mission in 2025, making it the first official Indian crewed flight to space. The three individuals on the mission will be Indian nationals.
India also aims to develop a space station containing humans within it by 2035 and to get its astronauts onto the Moon by 2040.
