Aspiring Beyond the Skies: GOPI THOTAKURA

Becomes an Ambassador of Possibilities

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CALL SIGN-"ROCKET BOY"

"My mission is to push every Indian to aim to go to the space and see the majestic blue ball. Your world will change once you go up there and experience it. If I can communicate even one per cent of what I saw, my purpose is achieved," said Capt. Gopi Thotakura.

Aviation World Magazine is highly delighted to publish exclusive cover story on Gopi Thotakura, highlighting his remarkable achievement by becoming India's first civilian astronaut."

You always looked up at the sky. You always wanted to be there."

Capt. Gopi Thotakura's parents confirm that he always dreamed of flight. He made it to the sky as a pilot and, in May 2024, went beyond, becoming an astronaut.

Thotakura's recent journey on New Shepherd was driven by a desire not just to fulfill his own dreams but to inspire others in India to aim higher."The country has more than 1.4 billion people and we didn't have a civilian Indian in space? Well, now we do," says Capt. Gopi Thothkura.

An unwavering passion pulled him more than 8,000 miles from his home in India to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. The university was not initially on his radar. He began flying at 14 at a flight school in New York during family vacations. An instructor there mentioned about Embry-Riddle. After some research and encouragement from his father, Gopi decided to apply and aim to pursue his education at Embry-Riddle "the Harvard of the Sky."

Despite skepticism from his peers and the challenges of applying to a foreign university, Thotakura remained determined. "Everybody in my high school told me, you're not going to get in. They need high grades and they're so far away," he recalls. After a long wait, he received the acceptance email.