Founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos gave crypto billionaire Justin Sun and five other people a ride to space. Reportedly, the mission — known as NS-34, because it was the 34th overall flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle — lifted off from the company’s West Texas spaceport at 8:43 a.m. EDT (1243 GMT; 7:43 a.m. local time in West Texas).
Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, is a private aerospace company focused on developing technologies to enable human spaceflight and exploration. One of its most notable achievements is its civilian spaceflight program, which offers commercial suborbital flights to the edge of space. Using its reusable New Shepard rocket system, Blue Origin aims to provide safe, reliable, and affordable access to space for private citizens, researchers, and astronauts.
Reportedly, the highest-profile NS-34 passenger was Justin Sun, a 34-year-old billionaire who founded the blockchain platform Tron. In June 2021, Sun won an auction for a seat aboard the first-ever crewed flight of New Shepard, plunking down $28 million. (He did so anonymously; we didn’t learn that Sun posted the winning bid until December 2021.)
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The New Shepard vehicle consists of a rocket booster and a crew capsule capable of carrying up to six passengers. It launches vertically and crosses the Kármán line—commonly recognized as the boundary of space at 100 kilometers above Earth’s surface—before safely returning to the ground. These flights offer a few minutes of weightlessness and stunning views of Earth from space.
Blue Origin’s civilian flights began in 2021, with the first crewed mission launching in July 2021, carrying Jeff Bezos himself along with three other passengers. Since then, Blue Origin has conducted multiple missions, including flights with paying customers and researchers, helping to expand access to space beyond government programs. The company continues to innovate, aiming to make space tourism a sustainable and growing industry.
“It was an honor to see so many nations represented on our flight today,” Blue Origin’s Phil Joyce, senior vice president, New Shepard, said in a postflight statement. “The view of our fragile planet from space has a unifying effect on all who witness it, and I am always eager to see how our astronauts use this experience for the benefit of Earth.”
According to Space.com, the people flying with Sun on Sunday were Arvinder (Arvi) Singh Bahal, an Indian-born American real estate investor and adventurer; Turkish businessman and photographer Gökhan Erdem; Deborah Martorell, a journalist and meteorologist from Puerto Rico; Englishman Lionel Pitchford, who has run an orphanage in Nepal for three decades; and American entrepreneur James (J.D.) Russell.
The NS-34 mission also underscores the growing international appeal of space tourism, bringing together passengers from different countries and diverse professions. This inclusivity demonstrates how spaceflight is no longer limited to government astronauts or elite scientists but is becoming accessible to entrepreneurs, adventurers, and individuals with unique personal stories. Blue Origin’s ability to attract a varied group of passengers reflects its goal of making space travel more mainstream and commercially viable. Moreover, the shared experience of seeing Earth from space often fosters a profound appreciation for the planet’s fragility, encouraging a sense of global unity and responsibility. As Blue Origin continues to innovate and expand its offerings, it paves the way for a future where spaceflight becomes a regular part of human experience, inspiring broader scientific inquiry, international collaboration, and environmental stewardship. The company’s work marks a transformative step toward making space travel an attainable experience for people worldwide.
