Born in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), Gopi, an entrepreneur and a pilot, journeyed to the edge of space beyond the Earth's atmosphere along with five others - Ed Dwight, Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L Hess and Carol Schaller. Ed Dwight (90) is now the oldest man on Earth to go to space.

Gopi has retained his Indian passport despite working in the US. Although he became the first Indian citizen to go to space as a tourist, he is officially the second astronaut from the country after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, who flew as a professional cosmonaut to space on board Soyuz T-11 on April 3, 1984, as part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme.

Following takeoff, the NS-25 vehicle reached beyond the boundary of space smoothly. The rocket and capsule then returned to Earth, with the rocket landing upright a few minutes after takeoff.

He flies jets commercially, in addition to piloting bush, aerobatic, and seaplanes. Gopi is a co- founder of Preserve Life Corp, a global center for holistic wellness and applied health located near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport."

He studied for a BSc in aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, US. A trained pilot, Gopi had worked in medical air evacuation services in India in the past.

"A lifelong traveller, his most recent adventure took him to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro," the statement said.

This flight is Blue Origin's first tourist mission on New Shepard since August 2022. The company was forced to halt flights of the rocket after a New Shepard vehicle suffered an engine failure mid-flight during an uncrewed mission in Sep 2022. Blue Origin spent most of 2023 investigating the failure and making design corrections, and the company successfully returned to flight with another uncrewed mission in Dec.