posted 07-21-2025 10:07 AM               

Blue Origin Announces Crew for New Shepard's 34th Mission

Blue Origin today announced the six people flying on its NS-34 mission. The crew includes: Arvi Bahal, Gökhan Erdem, Deborah Martorell, Lionel Pitchford, J.D. Russell, and H.E. Justin Sun, the winning bidder for the first New Shepard seat in 2021. The proceeds from the $28 million bid benefitted 19 space-focused charities to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEAM and help shape the future of life in space. J.D. is flying for the second time; he previously flew on NS-28.

This mission is the 14th human flight for the New Shepard program and the 34th in its history. To date, Blue Origin has flown 70 people above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. The flight date will be announced soon.

Meet the Crew

• Arvinder (Arvi) Singh Bahal

  Arvi is a real estate investor born in Agra, India, and now a naturalized U.S. citizen. A lifelong traveler and adventurer, Arvi has visited every country in the world, the North and South Poles, and skydived Mount Everest and the Pyramids of Giza. He holds a private pilot's license and also flies helicopters.

• Gökhan Erdem

  Gökhan is a Turkish businessman and a board member of Erdem Holding, a diverse group of companies operating in the energy, telecommunications, construction, and manufacturing sectors. Outside of his professional responsibilities, Gökhan is a passionate space enthusiast and an avid photographer. Deeply inspired by space exploration, he dreams of one day traveling to the International Space Station and possibly even beyond.

• Deborah Martorell

  Deborah is a Puerto Rican meteorologist and journalist. Her reporting on environmental and space topics has garnered eight Emmy Awards and two Awards of Excellence in Science Reporting from the American Meteorological Society. Her passion for space led her to participate in a 2007 microgravity flight with NASA, extensively cover Puerto Rican astronauts Joe Acabá and Marcos Berríos, and report on missions including STS-119, Artemis 1, and the launch of Puerto Rico's first nanosatellite, CuNARD-2. She was selected for the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences' project PoSSUM, and is also a Solar System Ambassador for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

• Lionel Pitchford

  Lionel is an Englishman who has spent the last four decades in Spain working as a teacher, translator, and tour guide as a means to travel the world. In 1992, following a plane crash with his sister and her family onboard, Lionel founded a nonprofit in Nepal dedicated to serving disadvantaged children and girls. He's also run an orphanage in Kathmandu for over 30 years. Lionel has dreamed of flying to space since catching the travel bug and is astonished it's now possible for ordinary people. He aims to inspire others they can do the same.

• James (J.D.) Russell
  
  J.D. is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Alpha Funds, a technology-focused venture capital company, and Alpha Aerospace, an aerospace consulting and solutions company. He founded the Victoria Russell Foundation to honor the memory of his deceased daughter. The foundation is dedicated to supporting children's education and assisting the families of first responders. It's a proud partner with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to bring the love of reading to children by gifting books free of charge to children. J.D. first flew to space on NS-28 on November 22, 2024.

• H.E. Justin Sun

  H.E. Justin Sun is the Ambassador and former Permanent Representative of Grenada to the WTO, Prime Minister of Liberland, Founder of TRON, a world-leading blockchain and DAO, and Advisor to HTX, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges. A protege of Alibaba's Jack Ma, Sun was featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine in April 2025, where he was recognized as one of the most dynamic and outspoken figures in crypto and earning the moniker 'Crypto's Billionaire Barker' for his bold approach to innovation, advocacy, and industry leadership. He's been named on Forbes' 30 under 30 list in the Consumer Technology category several times, among other global recognitions. Sun is an avid art collector, gamer, investor, philanthropist, and space enthusiast.

  In 2021, Justin placed the winning bid for the first seat on New Shepard. The $28 million in proceeds were donated to Blue Origin's foundation, Club for the Future, which selected 19 space-focused nonprofits to each receive a $1 million grant to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEAM and help invent the future of life in space.

posted 07-30-2025 02:56 PM               

New Shepard’s Crewed NS-34 Mission Targets Liftoff on August 3

Blue Origin announced its next New Shepard crewed flight, NS-34, will lift off from Launch Site One in West Texas on Sunday, August 3. The launch window opens at 7:30 AM CDT / 12:30 UTC.

The webcast will start at T-30 minutes.

posted 08-03-2025 08:08 AM               

Blue Origin's 14th human flight, NS-34, will lift off from Launch Site One in West Texas on Sunday, August 3. The astronaut crew includes Arvi Bahal, Gökhan Erdem, Deborah Martorell, Lionel Pitchford, J.D. Russell, and H.E. Justin Sun.

posted 08-03-2025 09:04 AM               

Blue Origin's New Shepard Completes 34th Mission to Space

Today, Blue Origin successfully completed its 14th human spaceflight and the 34th flight for the New Shepard program. The crew included: Arvi Bahal, Gökhan Erdem, Deborah Martorell, Lionel Pitchford, J.D. Russell, and H.E. Justin Sun, the winning bidder for the first New Shepard seat in 2021. Including today's crew, New Shepard has now flown 75 people into space, including five people who have flown twice.

"It was an honor to see so many nations represented on our flight today," said Phil Joyce, SVP, 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."

posted 08-03-2025 02:48 PM               

Reaching apogee. Seeing what unites us.

posted 08-04-2025 08:19 PM               

• The crew capsule reached an apogee of 347,191 ft AGL / 350,838 ft MSL (106 km AGL / 107 km MSL).

• The booster reached an apogee of 346,829 ft AGL / 350,476 ft MSL (106 km AGL / 107 km MSL).

• Official launch time was 7:42:16 AM CDT / 12:42:16 UTC

• Capsule landing occurred at 7:52:28 AM CDT / 12:52:28 UTC

• The mission elapsed time was 10 minutes, 12 seconds.