Tron Founder and HTX Adviser Justin Sun returned safely to Earth on Sunday after joining Blue Origin’s NS-34 spaceflight, marking his long-awaited journey to the edge of space.
The Blue Origin NS-34 mission launched at 8:43 a.m. EDT (12:43 UTC) on August 3 from West Texas, taking Sun and five other crew members to the edge of space and back in under 11 minutes. Sun had placed a $28 million bid in 2021 to join the flight. The proceeds supported Blue Origin’s space education charity, Club for the Future.
Alongside Sun were Alpha Funds Founder J.D. Russell, Turkish entrepreneur Gökhan Erdem, real estate investor Arvi Bahal, meteorologist Deborah Martorell, and teacher-philanthropist Lionel Pitchford.
“I was very surprised. Earth is so small. Basically, we could almost see the entire thing from the window,” Sun said after the flight, describing the “Overview Effect,” a cognitive shift astronauts often report when viewing Earth from space. “We need to do whatever we can do to protect it.”
Sun was originally set to fly with Amazon’s Founder Jeff Bezos in 2021 but rescheduled. Blue Origin, founded by the Amazon billionaire, now rivals Virgin Galactic, which charges $600,000 for similar suborbital trips.
The crypto industry’s interest in space is rising. In January 2024, Filecoin and Lockheed Martin tested blockchain-powered data transfers using the Interplanetary File System (IPFS). In December, Spacecoin XYZ launched its first satellite, which is to create a decentralized blockchain communication network in space.
Sun’s flight shows how crypto leaders are reaching beyond markets and into space. As blockchain grows, its next frontier may be the stars.
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