First Space Tour Ticket Buyer, Namira Salim Can't Wait To Fly

JAKARTA - Astronaut founder of Virgin Galactic, Namira Salim, appeared to support Sir Richard Branson as he made his inaugural spacewalk on Sunday, July 11, in True, New Mexico. Salim was one of the first people to buy tickets to go into space on Virgin. She has waited 15 years for her chance to rise, which she calls a dream come true.

Born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1975, as a child she knew that one day she would leave Earth. She declared to her cousins and friends that she would 'become an astronaut'.

She hopes to be the first Pakistani in space and was named the 'First Pakistani Astronaut' in 2006 after purchasing her tickets with Virgin Galactic.

It's a title she values, as it makes her an "instant source of inspiration for women and youth internationally", in fact, she told to MailOnline she hopes to take her peace flag into space when it launches in the new year.

She will be at Spaceport America on Sunday along with more than a dozen other Founding Astronauts to witness Sir Richard Branson's launch into space.

Holding a Masters in International Relations from Columbia University, Salim is the Founder and Executive Chair of the Space Trust, a non-profit initiative that promotes Outer Space as the New Frontier for Peace.

In fact, peace seems to be the main tenant in her desire to see the stars. In an interview with MailOnline, she said space is the frontier of the future of peace.

"It's really about being able to promote the message of the global world community because I see that I believe that space is the new frontier for peace on Earth", she told MailOnline, some time ago.

"I hope that I personally, you know, promote this message in my life because this is what I do for my nonprofit, and that's my job".

Who is Namira Salim?

Namira Salim, is a Space Diplomat, Future Astronaut, Pioneer Pole Explorer, and Artist. Born in Karachi, Pakistan, she is a Pakistani living in Monaco since 1997.

She will be the first South Asian to go into space on Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic – the world's first private spacewalk.

Throughout her life, she was no stranger to adventure. She became the first Pakistani and first woman from Monaco at the North Pole in April 2007 and the South Pole in January 2008, as well as the first Asian to parachute (tandem) over Mount Everest (third pole) in October 2008.

At all three poles, she flies the universal peace flag, which she also hopes to take to space.

Salim holds a Master in International Relations from Columbia University. Throughout her college days in the US, she kept her dream alive by creating art inspired by the night sky and navigating the sky during stargazing nights.

She was one of the first to contact Virgin Galactic in 2005 when news broke of space tourism.

In November 2015, she launched the non-profit organization Space Trust to promote Outer Space as the New Frontier for Peace

This work, with the support of NASA, Roscosmos, and others, has carved her into a Space Diplomat involving Heads of State and Heads of Government to harness space as a sustainable tool for peace on Earth, to support Space 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.