Indian-American astronaut Sirisha Bandla will be flying to space with Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic’s billionaire founder, and four others on July 11. The Guntur-born aerospace engineer will be the second Indian-born woman to go to space after Kalpana Chawla.
She will be the fourth Indian to fly into space after Rakesh Sharma, Kalpana Chawla, and Sunita Lyn Williams.
Bandla, who is in her early 30s, started working at Virgin Galactic in 2015 and is currently the vice president of government affairs and research operations of the company.
Bandla tweeted Friday, “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.”