Who is Tejpaul Bhatia? Indian-origin executive takes over as Axiom Space CEO ahead of historic Indian astronaut mission

Indian-origin executive Tejpaul Bhatia (In center)

In a significant management change simply weeks previous to an Indian astronaut launching on a historic mission, Axiom Space introduced Indian-origin executive Tejpaul Bhatia as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Bhatia, previously the Chief Revenue Officer of the Houston-headquartered agency, joins at a time of nice significance. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, chosen by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and NASA, will fly to the International Space Station subsequent month on Axiom’s Ax-4 mission, a collaboration that sees India enter a brand new period for human spaceflight.
Under strain from earlier non-public astronaut missions to the underside line, Axiom is working towards the clock to make good on its formidable vow: Replacing the International Space Station (ISS) with a industrial one by 2030. The change is at a pivotal second for the house financial system, and Axiom is main the cost.

“I’ve been inspired by space exploration since childhood, and leading Axiom Space at this critical inflection point in human spaceflight is the realization of a lifelong ambition,” mentioned Bhatia in a press release. “We are accelerating our investment in next-generation technologies — spacesuits, orbital infrastructure, and microgravity research — and we’re actively seeking passionate, visionary engineers, technologists, and entrepreneurs to build humanity’s future in space.”
Bhatia’s document at Axiom is spectacular. The agency in its official web site talked about that since becoming a member of in 2021, he has introduced in additional than $1 billion in contracts, organized the primary sovereign authorities buys of non-public astronaut missions, and spearheaded collaborations such as the one with Prada to develop next-generation spacesuits for Nasa’s Artemis III lunar mission. Prior to his stint at Axiom, Bhatia was a startup entrepreneur, an ESPN executive, and a strategic chief at Google Cloud.
Axiom co-founder and former interim CEO Kam Ghaffarian welcomed Bhatia’s appointment. “Tej has been instrumental in turning Axiom’s vision into reality. His entrepreneurial drive and commitment to our mission will ensure Axiom’s leadership as the space economy accelerates.”