Tag: SPACE

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‘India will launch industry-led policies in space sector’

‘India will launch industry-led policies in space sector’

ISRO Chief K. Sivan emphasised that recent reforms in the sector has ensured that the role of the private sector has evolved from being just suppliers to partners in the process…reports Asian Lite News

India is revising its existing policies and is also in the process of bringing in new ones to increase industry participation in the space sector, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Dr K. Sivan said on Sunday.

Sivan, who is Secretary, Department of Space, said this, via a video message during the inaugural session on ‘Future of Space-International Participations and Collaborations’ at The India Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai.

Dr K. Sivan during his virtual address

He emphasised that the recent reforms in the sector has ensured that the role of the private sector has evolved from being just suppliers to partners in the process. He also highlighted that space is one of the significant areas that India is looking at for international cooperation.

“I hope space cooperation will further strengthen with commercial and technological collaborations,” said Sivan, adding that Indian industry has to play a big role in the space sector globally.

India is planning to boost the space sector in the global market. With an aim to make the country an economic space hub in the future, it also recently launched a new industry body, the Indian Space Association (ISpA).

Sivan said that the government is open to inviting private players in the space sector and ISRO is tying up with start-ups and industries.

“India is focussing on international collaborations, including bilateral and multilateral partnerships,” he said.

In the recent past, the ISRO has also joined hands with Niti Aayog, and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to encourage space start-ups in the country.

ALSO READ: ‘India’s Pavilion Strategically Located at Expo’

However, Sivan emphasised on the need to make outer space safe and that it is a collective responsibility of the government and non-government agencies to ensure that.

The six-month-long Expo 2020 Dubai, which began early on October 1, will run till March 31, next year. Among the 192 participating countries, India has the biggest pavilion in the expo. Fifteen states and nine central ministries from India are participating in this expo.

The India Pavilion features an innovative kinetic facade made up of 600 individual colourful blocks. It is developed as a mosaic of rotating panels that will depict different themes as they rotate on their axis. It represents the theme of ‘India on the move’ and is a unique amalgam of the rich heritage and technological advances of the nation, according to an official statement.

Earlier, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre’s (IN-SPACe) Chairman-designate Pawan Kumar Goenka had said that he would soon fix a target for Indian private players’ share in the global space market and bring in corporate culture to achieve it.

He also said issuing the regulatory clearances for the private sector will be his priority. IN-SPACe is the regulator for the private players in the Indian space sector and Goenka has been named as its Chairman.

Goenka said: “The global space sector market is about $440 billion and India’s share is less than two per cent.”

He said in the coming days he will fix the target for India’s share in the global space market and work towards that.

‘India will launch industry-led policies in space sector’

Goenka, a former Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd said in the corporate world, a strategy would be defined, market share target will be fixed, and responsibility for achieving it will also be fixed. A similar model will be implemented for the private space sector.

In the coming days, Goenka said he would fix the target, define the timeline and the action plans to achieve the same.

According to him, the total investment by the private space start-ups is only $21 million while the opportunity for suppliers at the global level is large.

Citing products like lithium-ion batteries developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Goenka said he would look at spreading that technology amongst the automobile sector.

“More than 40 proposals from private space sector companies have come, which are being examined,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K.Sivan said.

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William Shatner becomes world’s oldest space traveller at 90

Shatner has broken the record of aviation pioneer Wally Funk, who, at 83, became the oldest person to have ever flown to space….reports Asian Lite News

Star Trek fame William Shatner, who, at 90, has become the world’s oldest astronaut so far, has landed safely on Earth from space.

Shatner has broken the record of aviation pioneer Wally Funk, who, at 83, became the oldest person to have ever flown to space.

The booster and capsule of the fully automated and reusable New Shepard rocket landed separately, with the capsule landing in the west Texas desert with the help of parachutes within minutes of their launch to space.

“Capsule touchdown! Welcome home to the crew of #NS18!” the company tweeted.

The flight took to space a little after 9 a.m. CDT (7.30 p.m. India time) from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in Texas.



The NS-18 carried four astronauts to space and back: Shatner, along with former NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries, co-founder of software company Medidata, and Audrey Powers, Vice President of missions and flight operations.

“Most profound experience of my life. It was surreal. Have no words to describe the feeling,” Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in the iconic science fiction TV series and films, told Amazon founder and Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos after the flight.

“I wish to never get over it.

“While earth is life, I felt what death would like to be – gone in an instant,” said an emotional Shatner.

The mission lasted nearly 10 minutes. The fully automated and reusable New Shepard rocket flew beyond the Karman line, 100 km above the ground and the internationally recognised boundary of space where passengers experienced 3-4 minutes of microgravity.

The five-storey tall New Shepard rocket, named after the first American in space Alan Shepard, is designed to launch a crew capsule with seats for six roughly 340,000 feet into the sky toward the edge of space.

The booster is topped by a gumdrop-shaped Crew Capsule with space for six passengers inside and large windows.

After reaching the Karman line, the capsule detached from the booster, allowing those inside to view the curvature of the earth and experience weightlessness.

“Congratulations to the entire Blue Origin team on today’s mission and stay tuned for more from Launch Site One! #NS18” the company tweeted.

On July 20, Blue Origin successfully carried its first human flight which included Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and Blue Origin’s first customer, Oliver Daemen.

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-Top News Dubai UAE News

UAE appoints new chief of national space agency

UAE appoints new chief of national space agency

Salem Butti Salem Al Qubaisi is appointed as the Director-General of the UAE Space Agency…reports Asian Lite News

President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued a Federal Decree appointing Salem Butti Salem Al Qubaisi, the Director-General of the UAE Space Agency.

The decision comes as part of the efforts taken by the UAE government to promote the performance of government entities and achieve qualitative leaps in the flexibility of their structures and policies, update their strategies and enhance their preparations for the next fifty years.

With his vast experience of more than 20 years in the fields of military aviation and defence in the public and private sectors, Al Qubaisi will lead the efforts of the UAE Space Agency to develop space sciences and associated advanced technologies, establish related regulations and policies, establish bilateral and multilateral international partnerships, as well as promoting national capabilities.

Al Qubaisi holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from California State University Sacramento, and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Last week, the UAE Space Agency had announced the commencement of a new Emirati interplanetary mission, designed to further accelerate nation’s space engineering, scientific research and exploration capabilities and drive innovation and opportunity in the country’s private sector.

The spacecraft will undertake a 3.6 billion-kilometre, five-year journey, which will see it perform gravity assist manoeuvres by orbiting first Venus, then Earth in order to build the velocity required in order to reach the main asteroid belt, located beyond Mars.

ALSO READ: UAE’s aviation activity rose 24.5 percent

Its trajectory around Venus will see it reaching a solar proximity of 109 million kilometres, requiring substantial thermal protection and a furthest distance from the sun of 448 million kilometres, requiring high levels of insulation and spacecraft operation with minimal levels of available solar energy.

Through its journey, it will study seven main belt asteroids. It will be built using the substantial heritage and intellectual property (IP) acquired during the development of the Emirates Mars Mission and its Hope Probe, currently orbiting Mars and gathering unique data on Mars’ atmospheric composition and interactions.

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UAE’s next space mission to explore Venus, 7 asteroids

UAE’s next space mission to explore Venus, 7 asteroids

The mission is scheduled for launch in 2028, with the primary goal of exploring the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the source of most meteorites that impact earth, reports Asian Lite News

The United Arab Emirates Space Agency on Tuesday announced the commencement of a new Emirati interplanetary mission, designed to further accelerate the young nation’s space engineering, scientific research and exploration capabilities and drive innovation and opportunity in the country’s private sector.

The announcement was made during a ceremony attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, that took place in Qasr Al Watan Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Mohammed bin Rashid

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said, “We have set our eyes to the stars because our journey to development and progress has no boundaries, no borders and no limitations. Today we are investing in the generations to come.”

“With each new advancement we make in space, we create opportunities for young people here on earth,” he added.

Built on the knowledge and experience gained from the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), the new mission will involve significant participation from Emirati private sector companies. It is scheduled for launch in 2028, with the primary goal of exploring the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the source of most meteorites that impact earth.

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Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed said, “This new mission tests and extends the capabilities of Emirati youth in achieving Zayed’s ambition to explore space. We are certain that our talented local engineers, academic and research institutions, which have so far made quantum leaps in developing our space sector, are well equipped to take on this daring new challenge.”

The spacecraft will undertake a 3.6 billion-kilometre, five-year journey, which will see it perform gravity assist manoeuvres by orbiting first Venus, then Earth in order to build the velocity required in order to reach the main asteroid belt, located beyond Mars. Its trajectory around Venus will see it reaching a solar proximity of 109 million kilometres, requiring substantial thermal protection and a furthest distance from the sun of 448 million kilometres, requiring high levels of insulation and spacecraft operation with minimal levels of available solar energy.

Through its journey, it will study seven main belt asteroids. It will be built using the substantial heritage and intellectual property (IP) acquired during the development of the Emirates Mars Mission and its Hope Probe, currently orbiting Mars and gathering unique data on Mars’ atmospheric composition and interactions.

Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences and Chair of the UAE Space Agency, said, “Our goal is clear: to accelerate the development of innovation and knowledge-based enterprises in the Emirates. This can’t be done by going steady-state, this requires leaps in imagination, in faith and the pursuit of goals that go beyond prudent or methodical. When we embarked on the Emirates Mars Mission, we took on a six-year task that was in the order of five times more complex than the earth observation satellites we were developing. This mission is in the order of five times more complex than EMM.”

The mission will make its first close planetary approach orbiting Venus in mid-2028, followed by a close orbit of Earth in mid-2029. It will make its first fly-by of a main asteroid belt object in 2030, going on to observe a total of seven main belt asteroids before its final landing on an asteroid 560 million kilometres from Earth in 2033. This will make the Emirates the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on an asteroid.

The mission brings extensive challenges that go beyond EMM in terms of spacecraft design and engineering, interplanetary navigation and complex systems integration, requiring new levels of performance from its communications, power and propulsion systems as well as demanding intensive mission control. The precise science goals and instrumentation to be deployed on the mission are to be announced in mid-2022.

The mission is to be developed in partnership with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. LASP was the primary knowledge transfer partner for EMM, bringing over seventy years’ experience in spacecraft and instrumentation design and development and helping advise, train and develop the team of Emirati engineers, software developers and scientists who worked on EMM, many of whom will go on to work on this new mission.

Five initiatives are being launched around the new mission by the UAE Space Agency to accelerate the development of the UAE’s space sector: a fully funded programme to establish Emirati space sector businesses; priority access to contracts and procurement for the mission by Emirati companies; a vocational training programme to train young Emiratis on component assembly and space subsystems engineering; a programme to bring local and international universities and research centres together to work on the mission, including LASP and Emirates University.

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-Top News USA

SpaceX Inspiration4 returns with all-civilian crew after 3 days in space

“Splashdown!” SpaceX posted from its official handle on Twitter, with a clip of the landing. “Welcome back to planet Earth, Inspiration4!”…reports Asian Lite News

SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission is now officially a success. The four amateur astronauts who went on a private space trip this week landed safely back to Earth on Saturday night after orbiting the planet for three days. The SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft ‘Resilience’ splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida in the United States at approximately 7:07pm EDT (around 4:37am IST), writing a new chapter in the history of human spaceflight and perhaps bringing the civilisation closer to the much-speculated future of space tourism.

“Splashdown!” SpaceX posted from its official handle on Twitter, with a clip of the landing. “Welcome back to planet Earth, Inspiration4!”

“On behalf of SpaceX, welcome back to planet Earth,” a SpaceX mission controller was quoted as saying after the splashdown. “Your mission has shown the world that space is for all of us.”

Jared Isaacman, a 38-year-old billionaire who sponsored the trip and was also its mission commander, said in reply, “Thanks so much, SpaceX. It was one heck of a ride for us… just getting started.”

SpaceX, the much-touted American aerospace company founded by businessman Elon Musk, launched the four amateur astronauts – the world’s first all-civilian crew – on the private Earth-circling in a historic spaceflight on Wednesday night from Nasa’s legendary Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida, where the Apollo 11 mission once took off for the Moon.

The four amateur astronauts travelled to an altitude of 357 miles (575 kilometres) above the surface of the Earth, which is much further and deeper into space than the International Space Station (ISS). The event generated great interest across the world since it is expected that this chapter will now lead to a future of spaceflight for average people, rather than just government-sponsored astronauts.

However, it is to be noted that the aforementioned crew was still far from ‘average’, in the true sense of the word.

The trip was sponsored by Jared Isaacman, billionaire and philanthropist with pilot training. He is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of payment processor Shift4 Payments Inc, and was also the mission commander of the spaceflight, having chosen the rest of the crew himself through a competition.

Isaacman was joined in the SpaceX mission by Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old paediatric cancer survivor, now working as a physician assistant. Arceneaux also became the first person to fly to space with a prosthetic device—she lives with a rod implanted in her left leg as part of her treatment for bone cancer.

Chris Sembroski, a US air force veteran who now works as an aerospace data engineer for Lockheed Martin in Seattle, was also part of the crew. The other member was Sian Proctor, a 51-year-old geoscientist in Phoenix, who was almost selected to become an astronaut for Nasa in 2009.

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-Top News China

Growing concerns over China’s space programme

There is enough evidence to prove that China’s space programme is targeted to move ahead and use space to dominate not only the US but also the rest of the planet. In terms of the US national security, and for the rest of the world also, China’s space capabilities have been defined as one of the most significant future threats to the global peace, writes Asad Mirza

Most countries around the world whether big or small, developed or developing, pursue a space programme of their own or in collaboration with advanced countries. Most aspects of these programmes are in the public domain and are targeted towards scientific and human advancement.

The spectre of a space was between the US and Russia came to an end with signing of the START Treaty in 1991 between the two. However, China has emerged as a country, which pursues a very secretive space programme and may force the mankind in a space war and global dominance.

There is enough evidence to prove that China’s space programme is targeted to move ahead and use space to dominate not only the US but also the rest of the planet. In terms of the US national security, and for the rest of the world also, China’s space capabilities have been defined as one of the most significant future threats to the global peace.

China’s plans were outlined very clearly when shortly after becoming president in March 2013, Xi Jinping made his ambitions for China’s space power very clear. “Developing the space program and turning the country into a space power is the space dream that we have continuously pursued”, he said.

“The space dream is part of the dream to make China stronger.”

China’s aim is to become the world’s leading space power by 2045. In a 2017 editorial, China Daily had said: “China will become an all-round world-leading country in space equipment and technology. By 2045, it will be able to carry out man-computer coordinated space exploration on a large scale.”

China’s Mars rover

US concerns

The advances and secret dimension of the Chinese space programme have been duly noted and concerns have been raised by the United States in this regard. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in its 2019 Annual Report to Congress stated that “China is taking steps to establish a commanding position in the commercial launch and satellite sectors relying in part on aggressive state-backed financing that western market-driven companies cannot match”.

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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, in his written testimony prior to his confirmation hearing in January 2021, declared that Chinese and Russian space activities present serious and growing threats to American national security interests. Chinese and Russian military doctrines also indicate that they view space as critical to modern warfare and consider the use of counter-space capabilities as both a means of reducing US military effectiveness and for winning future wars.

A Pentagon report in 2020 stated that the PRC continues to strengthen its military space capabilities, despite its public stance against the weaponisation of space…. the PRC is developing electronic warfare capabilities such as satellite jammers…. and China probably intends to pursue additional anti-satellite weapons capable of destroying satellites.

US President Joe Biden, when he was the vice president, with China’s President Xi Jinping during a visit to Beijing in 2011. (File Photo White House_IANS)

Chinese space programme

A significant aspect of China’s space initiative is the Beidou Navigation Satellite system (BDS), a global navigation satellite system that provides positioning, navigation and timing, in addition to data communication. The Chinese military has created the programme in order not to be dependent on the US-controlled GPS network. A report by the Jamestown Foundation says: “In recent years, the PRC has actively sought to promote the image of Beidou as a civilian-led programme intended primarily for commercial and scientific purposes, however, the program is under overall military direction, with the People’s Liberation Army in charge of Beidou’s development.”

Beidou can also be termed as China’s “Space Silk Road”, which expands China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its land-based and sea-based versions to space. Beidou makes countries participating in the BRI, dependent on China for precision navigation and other space based services.

Shenzhou 12 spacewalker Liu Boming positions himself to mount the end of a robotic arm outside of China’s space station. (Credit CCTV news)

Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute wrote in 2017 that, “Chinese provision of satellite communications, weather monitoring and earth observation add to this vision for a Space Silk Road that overarches and underpins the Belt and Road Initiative. By signing up to the BRI ‘Space Information Corridor’, the BRI states would become dependent on Chinese-provided space services. That would give Beijing greater power to influence the policy choices of those states, because it would control the vital space capabilities that sustain their economic growth”.

We have already seen the negative impact on countries like Sri Lanka and Brazil, which participated in the land and sea versions of the BRI.

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission further expressed caution in its 2019 Annual Report thus, “Beijing has specific plans not merely to explore space, but to industrially dominate the space…. Beijing uses its space programme to advance its terrestrial geopolitical objectives, including cultivating customers for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)… China’s promotion of… the Beidou global navigation system under its ‘Space Silk Road’ is deepening participants’ reliance on China for space-based services”.

China’s “Space Silk Road”, forms a very crucial part of its ambitious space goals. The commissions’ report further states that China has already succeeded in undercutting some US and other foreign launch and satellite providers in the international market, threatening to hollow out these countries’ space industrial bases… The aggressive pursuit of foreign technology and talent…continues to be central to this strategy and to China’s space development goals in general.

China’s Moon Programme

The China Daily in 2019 reported that “the next steps in China’s manned space programme will be manned exploration of the moon. We will set up bases on the moon to conduct scientific operations, expand a habitable place for mankind and gain experience and expertise for deep-space expeditions beyond the moon. The long-term goal is to send humans to Mars”.

Another worrisome development is Chinese cooperation with Russia in this regard. In March, China signed an agreement with Russia to work together to build a research station on the moon, which will carry out research on exploration and crucially, utilisation of the moon. Already in 2013, China launched its first lunar rover to explore the surface of the moon, hoping, among other things, to discover rare earth minerals, which are reportedly abundant on the moon. China’s Chang’e 5 lunar probe mission landed on the moon and brought back geological samples to China, which became just the third country to do so after the US and Russia.

In view of these developments it is a foregone conclusion that China will also move ahead to use space to dominate not only the US but also the rest of the world. Its plans for the future wars are space-based, in addition to utilising its large stockpile of surface to air missiles, ballistic and cruise missiles – which can strike from 500 to 5,500 km, thus covering a major part of the globe, without putting its soldiers’ boots on foreign soil and indeed it may not portend well.

(Asad Mirza is a political commentator based in New Delhi. He writes on Muslims, educational, international affairs, interfaith and current affairs. The views expressed are personal)

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Chandrayaan-3 likely to be launched in second half of 2022

Chandrayaan-3 realisation resumed after commencement of unlock period and is in matured stage of realisation, said the minister…reports Asian Lite News

Chandrayaan-3 is likely to be launched during third quarter of 2022 assuming normal workflow henceforth, the Parliament was told on Wednesday.

“Realisation of Chandrayaan-3 is in progress. The realisation of Chandrayaan-3 involves various process including finalisation of configuration, subsystems realisation, integration, spacecraft level detailed testing and a number of special tests to evaluate the system performance on earth,” Science & Technology Minister and Minister of State Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Noting that the realisation progress was hampered due to Covid-19 pandemic, he said that all works that were possible in work-from-home mode were taken up even during the lockdown periods.

Chandrayaan-3 realisation resumed after commencement of unlock period and is in matured stage of realisation, the minister said.

On Monday, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chief K Sivan said that the first uncrewed mission planned for December as part of the human space flight programme Gaganyaan would be delayed because of Covid-19, which had caused a disruption in the delivery of key components.

Before the second wave of the pandemic in April-May, Isro finished manufacturing the propulsion system for Chandrayaan -3 and started tests on it. The lander and propulsion systems were being integrated and several tests were planned for the middle of the year.

A successful moon landing would have made India the fourth country in the world to land a rocket on the moon after the US, the erstwhile USSR, and China, and the first to have landed close to the lunar South Pole.

“There were several big-ticket missions planned for 2020 and 2021; many commercial missions too. Now all the missions are getting pushed and it will have an impact on the image of India’s space mission internationally. We haven’t been able to successfully create a bio-bubble like China and US that have been carrying out missions through the pandemic,” said Ajay Lele, senior fellow working on space security and strategic technologies at Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

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NRI Sirisha to fly into space with Branson

NRI Sirisha to fly into space with Branson

Bandla, born in India and grew up in Texas will be the second Indian-born woman to go into space after Kalpana Chawla and the fourth Indian to fly into space…reports Asian Lite News

Indian American astronaut Sirisha Bandla will fly to space with Richard Branson in Virgin Galactic’ VSS Unity, scheduled to blast off on July 11 from New Mexico.

Bandla, born in India and grew up in Texas will be the second Indian-born woman to go into space after Kalpana Chawla and the fourth Indian to fly into space. The other two Indians who flew into space were Rakesh Sharma and Sunita Lyn Williams.

As astronaut number 4, Bandla’s role will be that of a researcher experience. Besides her. There will be one more woman crew member on the trip — Beth Moses.

“I am so incredibly honored to be a part of the amazing crew of #Unity22, and to be a part of a company whose mission is to make space available to all,” she tweeted on July 2 along with a video of the crew.

In a subsequent tweet, the astronaut said that she was overwhelmed by messages of love. “I really didn’t need to tweet this since my friends flooded the feed yesterday with it. I was overwhelmed (in a good way!) by messages of love, unrecognizable capital text, and positivity yesterday. Slowly working my way through them…one platform at a time!” she wrote.

Bandla, started working at Virgin Galactic in 2015 and is currently the vice president of government affairs and research operations of the company.

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Bandla was born in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur and is in her early 30s. She started working at Virgin Galactic in 2015 and is currently working as the vice president of government affairs and research operations of the company.

Her father Muralidhar Bandla is an agriculture scientist, said the report. He migrated to the United States for better opportunities and is presently working with the US Embassy in India, it said.

She completed her Bachelor of Science in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University. She also holds an MBA degree from The George Washington University.

In the past, she has served as the associate director in the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry association of commercial spaceflight companies.

Bandla also worked as a mechanical engineer at L-3 Communications.

She was also associated with the Telugu Association of North America (TANA), which is reportedly the oldest and biggest Indo-American organisation in the region. A few years ago, TANA honoured her with the Youth Star Award, said the report.

Andhra’s former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu tweeted about Bandla and said, “Indian-origin women continue to break the proverbial glass ceiling and prove their mettle.”

Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson will travel to the edge of space on Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc’s test flight on July 11, Branson’s space tourism firm said on July 1. A successful flight by Branson aboard Virgin’s VSS Unity spaceplane would mark a key milestone in a race to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel.

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