Raja Jon Vurputoor Chari (born June 24, 1977)[1] is an American test pilot and NASA astronaut.

After earning his graduate degree in 2001, Chari attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

He then attended F-15E Strike Eagle training at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina and, following completion of the training syllabus, subsequently served as an F-15E Evaluator Pilot and Chief of Standardization and Evaluation with the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska and 494th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, England, deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland as an Air Force exchange officer, and, following graduation a year later, was assigned to the 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin AFB, Florida, where he served as the project pilot for the APG-63 and APG-82 Active Electronically Scanned Array radar programs.

Chari also attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, served as a time-sensitive targeting officer in the United States Central Command's Combined Joint Operations Center, and was a program manager for a major defense acquisition program in the Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office.

At the time of his selection as an Astronaut in June 2017, Chari was serving as commanding officer of the 461st Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, California.

On March 23, 2022, Chari and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer exited the Quest Joint Airlock on the ISS to perform an EVA.