Pop star Katy Perry is set to make history as part of Jeff Bezos‘s Blue Origin first all-women space crew, joining CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, philanthropist Lauren Sánchez, and three other women.
The flight, scheduled for this spring, will be the 11th human spaceflight for Blue Origin and the first all-female crewed spaceflight since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission in 1963.
Why It Matters
The upcoming mission is part of Blue Origin’s broader push to make space travel more accessible to ordinary people. Since its first human spaceflight in 2021, the company has flown 52 people past the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, including Bezos and Star Trek actor William Shatner. This latest mission is the first time an entirely female crew will take the journey together.
What To Know
On Thursday, Blue Origin announced its first all-women crew for the NS-31 mission, featuring former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen, film producer and nonprofit leader Kerianne Flynn, King, Perry, and Sánchez, who helped assemble the team.
The announcement follows Blue Origin’s successful completion of its 10th crewed mission and 30th flight for the New Shepard program earlier this week.
The six crew members will travel beyond the Kármán line, where they will experience over 11 minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth. Covering more than a third of its surface, the capsule’s windows will offer breathtaking views.
Perry shared her excitement about the mission. “If you had told me I’d be part of the first all-female crew in space, I would have believed you. Nothing was beyond my imagination as a child,” she said.
King, who turned 70 this year, described the opportunity as a thrilling new chapter.
“I don’t know how to explain being terrified and excited at the same time. It’s like how I felt before delivering a baby,” she said on CBS Mornings. Initially, space travel wasn’t on her bucket list, but she reconsidered after conversations with her children and friend Oprah Winfrey.
Sánchez, Jeff Bezos’s fiancee and Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, expressed her pride in the mission and the women involved.
“I’m honored to be with such an incredible group of explorers,” she said, adding that she hopes the flight will inspire future generations. “I want young women to see this and know they, too, can reach for the stars—literally.”
Bowe, Nguyen, and Flynn also shared their enthusiasm in separate statements.
Blue Origin confirmed that the New Shepard rocket is fully autonomous, meaning there are no pilots, and all crew members will participate equally in the experience.
What People Are Saying
Blue Origin, in a press release on Thursday: “This mission will challenge their perspectives of Earth, empower them to share their own stories, and create a lasting impact that will inspire generations to come.”
Amanda Nguyen, who has conducted research at Harvard, MIT, and NASA: “As the first Vietnamese woman to go to space, I’m flying for Vietnamese girls to see themselves in the stars.”
Kerianne Flynn, a film producer and part of the crew: “Hopefully, myself and other future astronauts can use this experience to inspire young innovators and entrepreneurs about the importance of taking care of our planet.”
What Happens Next
Blue Origin has announced a space mission for this spring, though the exact launch date has not been specified.
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