Owolabi Salis, a Nigerian politician and lawyer, has made history as the first Nigerian to travel to space.
He was a passenger aboard Blue Origin’s NS-33 mission, which launched from West Texas on Sunday, June 29.
The suborbital flight lasted 10 minutes and reached a peak altitude of 105.2 kilometres, successfully crossing the Kármán line—the recognized boundary of space.
Credit: Blue Origin
Other participants on the mission included Carl Kuehner, Jim Sitkin, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno Jr., and Allie Kuehner.
Ahead of the launch, Salis highlighted the deeper meaning of the journey, saying it was “more than just a trip into space.” He described it as a “spiritual journey, a call to inspire future generations.”
Owolabi Salis had previously made headlines by becoming the first Black African to visit both the Arctic and Antarctic in the same season.
