Agra-born adventurer lifts off to edge of space in Blue Origin’s spacecraft

An 80-year-old Agra-born adventurer-cum-businessman, Arvinder ‘Arvi’ Singh Bahal, lifted off to the edge of space aboard Blue Origin’s NS-34 mission along with five other crew members on Sunday. The suborbital flight lifted off from the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 6:00 p.m. IST, marking another milestone in private human spaceflight.

Bahal was part of Blue Origin’s 14th human flight to suborbital space. The flight, lasting 11 minutes, carried a six-member crew to the Kármán line — the internationally recognised boundary that separates Earth's atmosphere from space. Bahal was accompanied by tech entrepreneur Justin Sun, Turkish businessman Gokhan Erdem, Puerto Rican meteorologist Deborah Martorell, British teacher Lionel Pitchford and venture capitalist JD Russell.

Describing Bahal, Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin wrote, “Arvi is a real estate investor born in Agra, India, and now a naturalised 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”. The 80-year-old holds a private pilot’s licence and also flies helicopters.

The India-born adventurer lives in Beverly, Massachusetts and has been a naturalised US citizen since 1979.

Bahal, who grew up near the Taj Mahal, had joined the National Defence Academy in 1962 but left due to a polo accident that caused him partial hearing loss. Later, he worked on a Scottish-owned tea plantation in Darjeeling for nearly four years. By 1970, he ventured into the garment manufacturing business near Delhi. He later migrated to the US.

Besides setting up Bahal Properties — a real estate company he has led since 1975, Bahal has built successful ventures in fashion, sportswear and hospitality over the past 45 years. He recently wrote his first book, Tireless Traveler, and plans to write many more travel books.