Pop star Katy Perry is preparing to embark on a historic journey into space as part of Blue Origin’s first all-female crewed mission aboard the New Shepard rocket. The mission, scheduled for this spring, will mark the first all-women spaceflight since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission in 1963. Perry will be joined by Lauren Sánchez, Jeff Bezos’ fiancée and the mission’s organizer, along with CBS journalist Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
The suborbital flight will launch from Blue Origin’s West Texas facility and is expected to last approximately 10–11 minutes, taking the crew past the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space at 62 miles above Earth. Blue Origin emphasized that the spacecraft operates autonomously, meaning no pilots are required. This will be Blue Origin’s 11th human spaceflight since it began sending tourists to space in 2021.
Sánchez, a helicopter pilot and former journalist, curated the diverse team for this mission. She stated that the goal is to inspire future generations of explorers and empower women worldwide. Katy Perry expressed her excitement about participating, hoping her journey will encourage her daughter and others to “reach for the stars, literally and figuratively”.
Blue Origin has previously flown celebrities like William Shatner and Michael Strahan on its reusable New Shepard rocket. However, this mission stands out as a significant milestone in space exploration history due to its all-female crew composition