The man who once nursed an ambition to become an astronaut has turned his attention to politics. Amidst growing concerns that Indian Americans are not as integrated into mainstream U.S., socially and politically, as they should be, Illinois businessman and MirCorp co-founder Chirinjeev Kathuria announced his intention to run for the Senate on the Republican seat being vacated by Senator Peter Fitzgerald. The primaries are scheduled for March 16, 2004.

Chirinjeev Kathuria was featured in March 2000 as the siliconindia Person Of The Month.

Kathuria threw his hat into the ring as only the second businessman among the six candidates for the seat that falls vacant in 2004. Kathuria garnered 9 percent of the vote in a straw poll of some 200 conservatives in the Chicago Conservative Conference.

He has founded and runs several business ventures ranging from medical to space exploration that have generated considerable wealth - conservatively estimated at some $1 billion. He is considered the richest candidate in the group of announced and unannounced candidates.

Technology would be a major part of his campaign, Kathuria said. He plans to travel around Illinois listening to people besides bringing himself up to speed on issues confronting the party and the people.

Kathuria said in his speech at the Illinois Leader that the country was suffering "economic distress" and that he totally supported the president's Tax Job Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. Drawing attention to the war on terror and said he would stand by the president and the armed forces.

Kathuria is best known as the maverick investor who co-founded MirCorp, the world's only commercial space tourism company. The high point of MirCorp was when it sent Dennis Tito, the world's first space tourist, into orbit for $20 million. He is also the president & co-founder of New World Telecom LLC, which develops and operates major telecommunications and internet projects throughout the world.

Kathuria is also Executive Director & a Founding Partner of The X-Stream Networks, Inc. The company merged with LibertySurf and the combined entity went public.

Kathuria is the Chairman & Founding Partner of HealthCite.com, which is a joint venture with the $60 billion Amgen Corporation that is touted to become the world's premier health care portal. When he was eight months old, the Delhi born Kathuria emigrated to the U.S., in 1964. After graduating from Brown University with a medical degree, Kathuria went on to get a master's in business administration from Stanford.