Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron blockchain network and advisor at HTX, has successfully completed a suborbital spaceflight aboard a Blue Origin rocket. The launch, which took place at 7:42 a.m. Central Time from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas on Sunday, marked Blue Origin's 14th human spaceflight.

Sun was accompanied by five other passengers on the New Shepard capsule: Arvi Bahal, a real estate investor; Gökhan Erdem, a Turkish businessman; Deborah Martorell, a meteorologist and journalist; Lionel Pitchford, a teacher; and JD Russell, a venture capital founder at Alpha Funds. The NS-24 mission reached its apogee at 8:47 a.m., and the capsule touched down safely by parachute at approximately 8:53 a.m., concluding the roughly 10-minute journey.

Sun secured his seat on the Blue Origin flight in 2021 by placing the highest bid of $28 million in an auction benefiting Club for the Future, a space-focused charity backed by Jeff Bezos. He was initially slated to be on the first crewed flight with Bezos that summer but had to postpone due to scheduling conflicts.

Upon returning to Earth, Sun expressed his gratitude to Bezos and his team for making his spaceflight dream a reality. He also shared his experience on Instagram, stating, "When I look at it from space, Earth is so small and that's our home. We definitely need to do whatever we can to protect it". Sun's reaction aligns with the "Overview Effect," a common sentiment among astronauts who experience a profound sense of unity and responsibility upon seeing Earth from space.

Phil Joyce, Senior Vice President at Blue Origin, acknowledged the unifying effect of witnessing Earth's fragility from space. Following the flight, footage released showed Sun exiting the New Shepard capsule in good spirits.

The mission, known as NS-34, was the 34th flight for Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital space program. The New Shepard is a reusable suborbital system featuring a fully autonomous capsule that doesn't require a pilot.

Sun's journey to space comes after a period of legal complications. In 2023, he was under federal investigation for alleged market manipulation and unregistered sales of crypto asset securities, but the case was put on hold in February.

Tron Inc., which Sun founded, recently became a publicly listed company on Nasdaq.