NEW DELHI: Arvinder ‘Arvi’ Singh Bahal, an 80-year-old adventurer and entrepreneur originally from Agra, soared to the edge of space on Sunday aboard Blue Origin’s NS-34 mission. The suborbital flight, operated by Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin, launched from West Texas at 6:00 p.m. IST and lasted approximately 11 minutes.
Bahal, now a naturalised U.S. citizen living in Beverly, Massachusetts, joined five other crew members on the company’s 14th human spaceflight. The mission carried the passengers to the Kármán line — widely regarded as the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.
Joining Bahal on the mission were tech entrepreneur Justin Sun, Turkish businessman Gokhan Erdem, Puerto Rican meteorologist Deborah Martorell, British teacher Lionel Pitchford, and venture capitalist JD Russell.
In a tribute to his adventurous spirit, Blue Origin described Bahal as “a lifelong traveler and adventurer” who has visited every country in the world, reached both the North and South Poles, and skydived over Mount Everest and the Pyramids of Giza. He holds both a private pilot’s licence and a helicopter pilot’s licence.
Born and raised near the Taj Mahal, Bahal joined India’s National Defence Academy in 1962 but had to withdraw following a polo accident that caused partial hearing loss. He later worked on a Scottish-owned tea estate in Darjeeling before launching a garment business near Delhi in the early 1970s. In 1975, he emigrated to the United States, where he founded Bahal Properties — a real estate firm he continues to lead.
Over the past four decades, Bahal has also built successful ventures in fashion, sportswear, and hospitality. Recently, he published his first book, Tireless Traveler, and has expressed plans to write more travel memoirs chronicling his global adventures.
His journey to the edge of space marks yet another milestone in a life defined by exploration, resilience, and reinvention.
