Kent-based Blue Origin successfully completed its 14th human spaceflight and the 34th flight for the New Shepard program on Aug. 3 in West Texas.
New Shepard has flown 75 people into space, including five people who have flown twice, according to a Blue Origin email.
The crew:
• Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency billionaire. Sun, born in China, in 2021 placed the winning bid for the first seat on New Shepard but wasn’t able to fly at the time. The $28 million in proceeds from the bid were donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, according to the company.
• Arvinder Singh Bahal, a real estate investor born in India and now a naturalized U.S. citizen
• Gökhan Erdem, a Turkish businessman
• Deborah Martorell, a Puerto Rican meteorologist and journalist
• Lionel Pitchford, an Englishman who has spent the last four decades in Spain working as a teacher, translator, and tour guide
• James (J.D.) Russell, a serial entrepreneur and founder of Alpha Funds, a technology-focused venture capital company, and Alpha Aerospace, an aerospace consulting and solutions company who also flew on New Shepard 28 in November 2024
“It was an honor to see so many nations represented on our flight today (Aug. 3),” said Phil Joyce, senior vice president for New Shepard. “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.”
The flight goes above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. The flight lasts about 10 minutes traveling approximately 62 miles into space and reaching speeds of up t0 2,238 mph.
Blue Origin charges people to fly into space, but does not reveal the prices. Sun revealed how much he paid for the first seat. Some people receive sponsored flights. A refundable deposit of $150,000 is required to start the process to book a flight, according to the company’s website.
Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, opened in Kent in 2000.
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