Deep Space Initiative founder Sara Sabry will join upcoming New Shepard flight, becoming the first Egyptian in space: Egyptian engineer Sara Sabry (LinkedIn) will join five other crew members onboard the New Shepard rocket’s 22nd space flight, Jeff Bezos’ space tourism company Blue Origin — which operates the suborbital rocket system — announced last week. The mission will see each astronaut carry a postcard to space on behalf of Blue Origin’s Club for the Future foundation, which encourages students to pursue STEM careers. The mission date will be announced soon, the company added.

Who is Sabry? As well as getting ready to make history by being the first Egyptian to travel to space, Sabry is the founder of the NGO Deep Space Initiative, which conducts research on all things space-related, including astronaut health and building space stations and habitable environments. Sabry is also Egypt’s first female analog astronaut, having completed a two-week analog Moon mission in 2021, simulating the extreme conditions astronauts experience in Space, while remaining here on Earth.

New Chelsea FC owners raise c. USD 960 mn in mega debt transaction: US financier Todd Boehly and private investment firm Clearlake Capital have finalized a debt agreement worth GBP 800 mn (or roughly USD 960 mn) — one of the biggest ever debt financing transactions the sport has ever seen. Bank of America and JPMorgan are among the banks involved with the financing, sources told The Financial Times. Around 40% of the transaction will go towards a revolving credit facility and the remainder to a term loan. The new owners, who acquired Chelsea for approximately USD 2.9 bn in May, are now looking to reshape the club by bolstering the London club’s operations, upgrading its Stamford Bridge stadium and continuing expanding the team’s global fan base.

Large debt financing has become a mainstay in football in recent years: The previous record was held by Manchester City’s parent company, which raised USD 650 mn in July 2021. This follows FC Barcelona raising EUR 525 mn and Tottenham Hotspur borrowing USD 760 mn from several banks to build its newest stadium.

Leveraged buyouts in English football (particularly by American outfits) have become a toxic issue for fans. Just ask any Manchester United supporter, who will scream bloody murder at how the Glazers sadled the club with debt in order to buy it (watch, runtime: 9:22). Many would cite this event as the beginning of the decline of the storied English club. Want to know more about the Man U fiasco? Tifo Football has you covered (watch, runtime: 7:55).