Indian-origin businessman, 80, lifts off for space in Blue Origin craft

Describing Bahal, Blue Origin wrote, “Arvi is a real estate investor born in Agra, India, and now a naturalized US 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.”

Bahal, who now lives in the US and has traveled to every country in the world, was joined by five others on the 14th crewed mission of Blue Origin’s New Shepard program. The diverse crew included:

• Justin Sun, Chinese crypto entrepreneur and TRON founder
• Deborah Martorell, Puerto Rican meteorologist
• Gokhan Erdem, Turkish businessman
• Lionel Pitchford, British educator and humanitarian
• JD Russell, American entrepreneur making his second Blue Origin flight

The flight will last around 10 minutes and take the capsule past the Karman line – the internationally recognized boundary of space at 100 kilometers altitude – before returning safely to Earth.

For Bahal, who is also a licensed pilot and a former Everest flyover participant, the spaceflight was the culmination of a lifelong passion for exploration.

Blue Origin’s space flights

This was Blue Origin’s third crewed flight of 2025, adding to its growing roster of space tourists as it continues to pioneer commercial space travel.

Earlier this year, Blue Origin took Jeff Bezos’ fiancee Lauren Sanchez to space an all-female celebrity crew that included American singer Katy Perry and actor Gayle King.

Blue Origin New Shepard mission NS-31, its 11th human flight, lifted off from Launch Site One in West Texas on April 14 with an all-women crew.