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The program, being executed in collaboration with Blue Origin,
is meant for people from countries who have sent "few or no
astronauts" to space, the agency said.
The selected citizens will undertake the 11-minute journey in
New Shepard, Blue Origin's reusable suborbital rocket, after
undergoing training at its launch site in West Texas.
"We want to make space accessible for everyone and are happy to
offer this unique opportunity to an Indian citizen who wants to
experience the wonders of space travel," SERA Co-Founder Joshua
Skurla said.
People interested in the program will have to pay $2.50 to cover
verification checks and will have to meet certain physical
requirements, SERA said.
The final candidate will be selected by the public through a
public vote.
"This approach (of public voting) will ignite national
conversations on space and foster international collaboration in
space exploration," SERA Co-Founder Sam Hutchison said.
India has achieved key milestones in the space sector in the
last few months, the most significant of which was landing on
the unexplored south pole of the moon - the first country to
achieve the feat.
It also launched its first solar mission in September and is
working with the Elon Musk-led SpaceX to launch a communications
satellite.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was sworn in for a rare third
term last month, has been focusing on increased privatization
and commercialization of the space sector, pushing for it to
play a larger role on a world stage dominated by India and the
U.S.
(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, writing by Sakshi Dayal;
Editing by Michael Perry)
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