The highest-profile NS-34 passenger is Justin Sun, a 34-year-old billionaire who founded the blockchain platform Tron. In June 2021, Sun won an auction for a seat aboard the first-ever crewed flight of New Shepard, plunking down $28 million. (He did so anonymously; we didn't learn that Sun posted the winning bid until December 2021 .)

The mission is the 14th human flight for New Shepard and the 34th in its history overall. The spacecraft will liftoff from a Texas launch site early Sunday morning.