Katy Perry, Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez to join Blue Origin’s all-female spaceflight
Pop superstar, Katy Perry is set to participate in a groundbreaking mission to the edge of space, joining a six-woman crew aboard a Blue Origin rocket scheduled for launch on Monday, APril 14.
The suborbital flight, operated by Blue Origin—the private aerospace company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos—will lift off from the company’s launch facility in Van Horn, Texas, at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Joining Perry on this historic flight are: Gayle King, co-host of CBS Mornings, Lauren Sánchez, former journalist and Bezos’ fiancée, Aisha Bowe, former NASA rocket scientist, Amanda Nguyen, bioastronautics researcher and civil rights advocate, Kerianne Flynn, film producer.
The mission has been described as a landmark moment, marking the first all-female spaceflight crew since Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963.
The six women will travel aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, a fully autonomous, suborbital launch system named after astronaut Alan Shepard. The flight will last approximately 10 minutes, taking the capsule past the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space at 62 miles above sea level.
Once the capsule reaches apogee, the crew will experience a few minutes of weightlessness before descending under parachutes for a soft landing in the West Texas desert.
This launch will be Blue Origin’s 11th human flight and another step in its ongoing space tourism program. The company has previously flown a number of high-profile passengers, including:Actor William Shatner, Former NFL player Michael Strahan, Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of Alan Shepard
While seats on New Shepard are estimated to cost several hundred thousand dollars, Blue Origin has not confirmed whether the celebrity participants on this mission paid for their seats or were invited.
Beyond the headlines, this mission represents a notable moment for gender representation in the space industry. Bringing together women from different backgrounds—entertainment, journalism, science, and activism—the flight sends a strong message about inclusivity and the evolving possibilities in private space exploration.
This all-female flight is not only a technological achievement but also a cultural milestone, reflecting a broader shift in who gets to access space.
