{"id":457222,"date":"2026-06-19T05:06:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=1007591"},"modified":"2026-06-19T05:06:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:06:26","slug":"from-suriname-to-space-rohit-goeptars-shares-his-journey-to-nasa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=457222","title":{"rendered":"From Suriname to Space: Rohit\u00a0Goeptar\u2019s\u00a0Shares\u00a0his\u00a0Journey to NASA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rohit Goeptar, an electromagnetic\/radio frequency analyst with NASA\u2019s Launch Services Program at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, reviews a radio frequency link budget analysis for NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from his office. Goeptar is among the engineers and technicians sworn in as new NASA civil servants as part of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman\u2019s workforce directive to restore technical core competencies within the civil servants ranks.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Amanda Griffin<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rohit Goeptar was born into a poor family in Suriname, South America, the kind where both parents work three jobs and they still can only provide food and shelter for their family. At around age six, his family moved to California to start a new life. Only two years later, he moved back to South America with his father while his mother stayed in the United States and remarried. When he was 13, he became a U.S. citizen and he and his brothers returned to live with their mother in California. <\/p>\n

At 19, Goeptar joined the U.S. Marine Corps where he spent six years as a technical operator. During one deployment to the Philippines, Goeptar helped set up communication systems for individuals who needed to contact their loved ones after a typhoon ripped through entire towns.  <\/p>\n

\u201cI was lost, the Marine Corps gave me an opportunity,\u201d Goeptar recalled.  <\/p>\n

While the Marines taught him useful skills, his life had not been the easiest. He lost not one, but two, fathers to suicide, and a short first marriage ended with him being unhoused on the streets of Kissimmee, Florida, for six months. But Goeptar eventually found his way.   <\/p>\n

As with most underdog stories, there was another person in the shadows behind his rise to success.  <\/p>\n

\u201cYour brain works in mysterious ways,\u201d his now wife told him a short while after they met. She then filled out college applications for him, and he eventually applied to NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  <\/p>\n

While raising three kids, going to school full-time pursuing a computer engineering and electrical engineering degree simultaneously, Goeptar got the call that changed his life. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn spring 2025, I was driving to pick my son up from school when a gentleman from Kennedy calls, telling me he\u2019s seen my resume and do I have time for a quick interview,\u201d Goeptar recounted. <\/p>\n

He pulled on the side of the road and took part in an impromptu job interview. <\/p>\n

Two weeks later, he had an in-person interview with others from Kennedy and two weeks after that, he had a contractor badge at America\u2019s premier spaceport.  <\/p>\n

After starting as an intern under the Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Support, or ELVIS, contract, then moving to part-time until he graduated from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, then full-time at the beginning of 2026, Goeptar was one of the ELVIS contractors who applied and were picked up to become civil servants recently. <\/p>\n

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Rohit Goeptar, an electromagnetic\/radio frequency analyst with NASA\u2019s Launch Services Program at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, reviews a radio frequency link budget analysis for NASA\u2019s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope with a colleague. <\/div>\n
NASA\/Amanda Griffin<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Now an employee of NASA\u2019s Launch Services Program, Goeptar works with electromagnetic interference, electromagnetic compatibility, and radio frequency. It is his job throughout the entirety of the mission to analyze and ensure avionic boxes or anything electrically powered doesn\u2019t interfere with any other systems. He also ensures independent systems are compatible when brought together. And finally, he conducts model radio frequency link analysis for different rockets and science demonstrations payloads. These may belong to NASA or commercial partners, and he is responsible for ensuring uninterrupted communication with the ground. In his short time at Kennedy, Goeptar has worked on Sentinel-6B, JPSS-4 (Joint Polar Satellite System), and IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) missions.  <\/p>\n

And as far as his wife\u2019s assessment that his brain works differently, he proved that within a year at Kennedy when he noticed an analytical issue his team wasn\u2019t tracking. Once a rocket launches, it does a pitch, yaw, and roll. The analysis the team had been conducting didn\u2019t account for this movement, which meant it wasn\u2019t as accurate as it could be. He presented his solution to the team lead, and it now enables NASA data and partner data to be much more in sync. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no greater feeling, being able to serve. It\u2019s more than serving the public, it\u2019s serving our country. It\u2019s serving the future of our country,\u201d Goeptar said with tears brimming in his eyes. \u201cBeing able to give back to that same government that gave me an opportunity to be where I\u2019m at today. There\u2019s no greater feeling than that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Goeptar\u2019s 11-year-old takes most of the credit for his landing at the space center, a NASA enthusiast, his son believes he spoke it into existence. <\/p>\n

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\"Rohit<\/a><\/figure>
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Rohit Goeptar, an electromagnetic\/radio frequency analyst with NASA\u2019s Launch Services Program at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, poses for a photograph with his children. <\/div>\n
NASA\/Rohit Goeptar<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cOne day he wants to become an astronaut,\u201d Goeptar said with joy on his face. \u201cAnd I told him I will guide him until the day that I die. Maybe my last mission could be the one my son flies on. I\u2019m not going to stop until that day happens.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rohit\u2019s positive streak continues as he recently was accepted into electrical engineering master\u2019s programs at both Johns Hopkins University, and UCF.\u202f <\/p>\n

Learn more about NASA\u2019s missions online:\u00a0<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.nasa.gov<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rohit Goeptar was born into a poor family in Suriname, South America,\u00a0the kind where both parents work three jobs and they still can only provide food and shelter for their family. At around age six, his family moved to California to start a new life. Only two years later, he moved back to South America [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15717,15829],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-457222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kennedy-space-center","category-launch-services-program"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t