Justin Sun, founder of the layer-1 Tron blockchain network, returned safely from a commercial spaceflight on Saturday, alongside five other crew members aboard Blue Origin mission NS-34.

The other crew members included the founder of venture capital firm Alpha Funds, J.D. Russell, entrepreneur Gökhan Erdem, real estate investor Arvi Bahal, meteorologist Deborah Martorell, and philanthropist and teacher Lionel Pitchford. 

Sun placed a $28 million bid for a seat aboard Blue Origin spaceflight NS-34 in 2021 and won the first reservation for the scheduled mission.

“Earth is so small, and it's our home. We definitely need to do whatever we can to protect it,” Sun said following the safe return of the flight on Saturday. He also added:

“I was very surprised. Earth is so small. Basically, we could almost see the entire thing from the window, and that’s when it came to me, the mission’s name is right on point.”

The Tron founder’s reaction to seeing the Earth from a spacecraft is common among astronauts and is known as the “Overview Effect.” This phenomenon is characterized as a cognitive shift about the planet’s interconnectedness and humanity’s place in the universe. 

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Blockchain in outer space, taking immutability to the stars

Several crypto projects are attempting to bring the decentralization and immutability of blockchain to space as humankind pushes through the final frontier.

Filecoin, a project building out decentralized storage systems, and defense contractor Lockheed Martin, successfully tested the Interplanetary File System (IPFS) in January 2024.

The IPFS is a way of transmitting data from Earth through space, and the January 2024 demonstration showcased how files could be sent from the planet to space and back again through satellites.

Filecoin Foundation president Marta Belcher told Cointelegraph that decentralized file storage and the IPFS are necessary for interplanetary and space communication.

Belcher explained that decentralized data storage through blockchain networks reduces latency, ensures communications are tamper-proof, and protects the integrity of data from constant solar radiation that bombards space infrastructure, causing degradation of sensitive computer equipment like hard drives and corrupting data in the process.

In December 2024, Spacecoin XYZ, a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePin), which launches satellites into space for its blockchain communication network, launched its first satellite into orbit above the planet.

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