Blue Origin, on Sunday, successfully launched the first Indian tourist to space. The New Shepard rocket lifted off at 8:06 pm IST from the company’s launch pad in Texas with six passengers including Gopi Thotakura. The Indian aviator was accompanied by Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Ken Hess, Carol Schaller and Ed Dwight.

A lifelong aviator, Thotakura has expertise in flying jets commercially, in addition to piloting bush, aerobatic, and seaplanes. Besides, he is also the co-founder of Preserve Life Corp, a global health care company.

“It’s amazing, it really is,” Thotakura said after the landing. It’s not like the movies. You have to see it with your eyes to really, really, really take it in.”

The mission named New Shepard 25 was Blue Origin’s 25th flight to date and the seventh with humans on board.

ALSO SEE: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin’s Rocket Carrying NASA Payloads Blasts Off Moments After Launch; Watch

After a little over three minutes, the six passengers were above the Karman Line – the internationally recognised boundary of space 100 km above – when the Booster separated from the crew capsule. It is here when the astronauts experienced a few minutes of weightlessness.

At 8:13 pm, the Booster returned to autonomously land at the launch pad.

Just three minutes later, the capsule touched down in the desert safely with the passengers. Surprisingly, only two of the three parachutes in the capsule opened during descent.

With the successful NS-25 mission, Blue Origin has launched 37 people to space including seven women.

The NS-25 crew also included Ed Dwight, the first black astronaut candidate selected in 1961. “Everyone should experience it. I am ecstatic,” he said after the touchdown.

The other crew members were Mason Angel – a venture capitalist, Carol Schaller – a retired public accountant, Sylvain Chiron – a French businessman and Kenneth L. Hess – a software engineer.

ALSO SEE: After Rakesh Sharma, Gopichand Thotakura To Visit Space As Second Indian National With Blue Origin

Blue Origin is targeting the launch of its NS-25 mission on May 19. The lift off is scheduled at 7 pm IST from Texas, U.S., with six passengers including India’s Gopi Thotakura.

It will be the Jeff Bezos-owned company’s seventh crew flight and the 25th overall mission to date.

NS-25 is targeting liftoff from Launch Site One on Sunday, May 19. The launch window opens at 8:30 AM CDT / 13:30 UTC. Learn more about the symbolism embedded in our New Shepard #NS25 mission patch: https://t.co/KbAJkbRTvj pic.twitter.com/glgDfGS96Q
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 14, 2024

The passengers will board the New Shepard spacecraft which offers a few minutes of weightlessness by crossing the Karman line – the internationally recognised boundary of space 100 km above Earth.

ALSO SEE: After Rakesh Sharma, Gopichand Thotakura To Visit Space As Second Indian National With Blue Origin

Who is Gopi Thotakura?

Gopichand Thotakura is a pilot and aviator and the co-founder of Preserve Life Corp, a US-based wellness company. With an expertise in flying bush, aerobatic, seaplanes, gliders and hot air balloons, he once also served as a medical jet pilot in India.

Thotakura will be the second Indian to visit space since Rakesh Sharma who flew in 1984. Read more about him here.

The other crew members are Ed Dwight who was the first African-American astronaut candidate chosen by late U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Another passenger Mason Angel is a venture capitalist, Sylvain Chiron is a French businessman, Kenneth L. Hess is a software engineer and Carol Schaller is a retired public accountant.

ALSO SEE: A Flight To Space With Jeff Bezos Aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard Sold For $28 Million!

Seems like Boeing will have to wait a few more days for the launch of its debut mission as it has been delayed again. NASA announced that the launch is now targeted no earlier than 2:13 am IST on May 22 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA, Boeing and the United Launch Alliance (ULA) which provides rocket are working together on this.

NASA, @BoeingSpace, and @ulalaunch are now targeting no earlier than 4:43pm May 21 for the launch of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission.

On May 11, the ULA team successfully replaced a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur… pic.twitter.com/2Ra38p2U5B
— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) May 14, 2024

The lift off was earlier targeted for May 18 after being scrubbed on May 7 due to a valve issue with ULA’s Atlas V rocket.

Named the Crew Flight Test (CFT), this mission involves two NASA astronauts – Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore – who will ride Boeing’s Starliner to the International Space Station (ISS) and return after about a week.

The objective is to test Starliner’s end-to-end transportation capabilities to the station and back.

ALSO SEE: Elon Musk Weighs In On Rival Boeing’s Failure To Reach Orbit; ‘Too Many Non-Technical Managers’

Launch postponed after new problem

In its statement, Boeing revealed that apart from the valve issue on the Atlas rocket’s upper stage liquid oxygen tank, there is also a leakage problem on Starliner.

“Starliner teams are working to resolve a small helium leak detected in the spacecraft’s service module traced to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster,” it said.

“NASA and Boeing are developing spacecraft testing and operational solutions to address the issue.”

Last week, the engineers replaced the pressure regulation valve on the rocket which has been rolled back to the Vehicle Integration Facility from the launch pad after the scrub.

Meawhile, astronauts Williams and Wilmore, who are still in preflight quarantine have returned to their families in Houston, Texas. They will fly back once the repair work is complete, Boeing said.

ALSO SEE: NASA’s Partner Wants Boeing To Stop Crew Launch ‘Before Something Catastrophic Happens’