Ahead of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos space trip , Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson too has announced the team that will accompany him on his first trip to space.
However, what has piqued the interest of Indians is Sirisha Bandla, an Indian American who will be on board the spacecraft along with Branson.
Sirisha Bandla is vice president of government affairs and research operations for Virgin Atlantic, Branson's company, and she will be among the five passengers on the trip.
Born in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur, Sirisha will be the second Indian-born woman to go into space after Kalpana Chawla, who died in the tragic Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Sirisha joined Virgin Galactic in 2015 as government affairs manager and has since then risen through the ranks. She has also handled Washington operations for Virgin Orbit, which recently delivered a satellite in space using a 747 plane.
While Sirisha will be the second Indian woman in Space, she will be the fourth Indian to achieve the feat. Rakesh Sharma is the first Indian ever to go into space, Sirisha comes after Kalpana Chawla and Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams.