Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun has successfully completed a commercial spaceflight with Blue Origin, marking a major personal milestone and hinting at the future ambitions of blockchain beyond Earth. Sun returned safely from the NS-34 mission on Saturday, alongside five other passengers, including VC founder J.D. Russell, entrepreneur Gökhan Erdem, investor Arvi Bahal, meteorologist Deborah Martorell, and educator Lionel Pitchford.

Sun secured his seat with a $28 million bid placed back in 2021, becoming the first to reserve a spot on the mission. Following the flight, Sun expressed awe at Earth’s fragility and emphasized the need to protect it. He described his experience witnessing the "Overview Effect"—a cognitive shift reported by many astronauts when viewing Earth from space.

The crypto community is also setting its sights on outer space. Projects like Filecoin and defense giant Lockheed Martin are already experimenting with space-grade blockchain infrastructure. In January 2024, they successfully demonstrated the Interplanetary File System (IPFS), which allows data to be securely transmitted between Earth and space via satellite networks.

Marta Belcher, president of the Filecoin Foundation, emphasized that decentralized systems like IPFS are crucial for future interplanetary communication. She highlighted the importance of tamper-proof, radiation-resistant data storage in space—where traditional systems are vulnerable to solar radiation and hardware degradation.

Meanwhile, in December 2024, Spacecoin XYZ launched its first satellite to support a decentralized blockchain communication network, signaling the growing role of physical blockchain infrastructure in orbit.