Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is set to make headlines once again as the company prepares to launch its latest suborbital space tourism flight, NS-34, on Sunday, August 3, 2025.
Among the six-member crew is Arvinder (Arvi) Singh Bahal, an Agra-born real estate investor whose adventurous spirit and global travels have taken him from the North Pole to the Pyramids of Giza, and now, to the edge of space.
Bahal, now a naturalised US citizen, has made it a personal quest to visit every country in the world. He holds both a private pilot’s license and helicopter training, and his latest journey with Blue Origin is the culmination of a lifetime devoted to exploration and adventure.
Describing his journey, Bahal once remarked on his love for challenging boundaries, which now includes crossing the Krmn line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
Joining Bahal on this 14th human flight and 34th overall mission for Blue Origin’s New Shepard program are Turkish businessman Gkhan Erdem, Puerto Rican meteorologist and Emmy Award–winning journalist Deborah Martorell, English philanthropist Lionel Pitchford, entrepreneur J.D. Russell (who previously flew on NS-28), and H.E. Justin Sun, the winning bidder of the first New Shepard seat in 2021. Sun’s $28 million bid famously benefitted 19 space-focused charities, inspiring young people in STEAM fields and supporting the next generation of space explorers.
For Deborah Martorell, the mission is groundbreaking as she becomes one of the first meteorologists to travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Her reporting on environmental and space topics has not only won her multiple Emmys, but has also inspired a generation of Puerto Rican students to look to the skies.
She brings not only her extensive expertise to the mission but also students’ hopes, experiments, and her lifelong passion for science communication.
Blue Origin has now flown 70 people above the Krmn line, with the upcoming NS-34 furthering Jeff Bezos’ vision of democratising access to space.
The launch will take place from Launch Site One in West Texas at 6:00 pm IST, and the world can watch live via Blue Origin’s webcast, starting 30 minutes before liftoff.
As NS-34 prepares to take flight, the crew symbolises the spirit of global adventure, philanthropy, and the expanding frontier of commercial spaceflight.
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