Katy Perry, Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez joined a six-woman space crew on Monday aboard Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission. The all-female flight became the first of its kind in over 60 years, according to Blue Origin.
The crew included former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn. The women boarded the New Shepard rocket at Launch Site One in West Texas.
The launch occurred at 9:30 a.m. ET and lasted 11 minutes. The 60-foot-tall rocket reached supersonic speeds over 2,000 mph during ascent.
Figure 1: The All Female Blue Origin’s Crew
Flight Reached Apogee Above Kármán Line
Three minutes into flight, the booster separated and the capsule continued toward apogee. The women experienced microgravity and floated inside the capsule.
The capsule crossed the Kármán Line, recognised as the boundary of space at 62 miles above Earth.
The crew observed the moon and Earth’s atmosphere through large windows. At the nine-minute mark, parachutes deployed to slow the capsule.
Two minutes later, the capsule landed in the Texas desert, stirring plumes of dust. Blue Origin workers approached to recover the crew.
I’m pretty certain this Blue Origin launch is fake!! It doesn’t even look real. The real question is… why? Why go through all the trouble. A distraction from something?
pic.twitter.com/5RmKbc7wdl— Musicman (@MusicManVA) April 14, 2025
Perry Reflects on Daughter and Symbolic Daisy
Katy Perry carried a daisy onboard, which she described as “a common plant” that “can grow through any circumstances.”
She stated, “This is all for the benefit of Earth.” She added, “I wanted to model courage and worthiness and fearlessness.”
Perry described the trip as emotional, noting the challenge of leaving her daughter Daisy Dove. “I feel super connected to love,” she said.
Perry said, “Of course,” when asked about writing a song based on the journey.
#KatyPerry tells Blue Origin about being an astronaut: “I think this experience has shown me you never know how much love is inside of you, like how much love you have to give and how loved you are until the day you launch”👏👑💙@katyperry pic.twitter.com/asO5XpkPnv
— World Music Awards (@WORLDMUSICAWARD) April 14, 2025
Gayle King Describes Experience as Transformational
Gayle King expressed pride after the flight. “I can’t even believe what I saw,” she said. “I’m so proud of me right now.”
She called the experience “a reminder of how we have to do better, be better.”
King described the crew as a “sisterhood” and shared that Perry sang “What a Wonderful World” during descent.
King’s grandson watched the launch in an astronaut uniform, aged 3½.
Lauren Sánchez Returns to Earth Ahead of Wedding
Lauren Sánchez commented on the flight, saying, “I don’t think you can describe it … it was quiet but also really alive.”
She joked, “I had to come back, I mean we’re getting married,” referring to her upcoming wedding with Jeff Bezos in Italy.
Bezos drove Sánchez to the launch site in a Rivian truck and welcomed her with an embrace upon landing.
Figure 2: Lauren Sánchez felt alive in space before her wedding with Jeff Bezos
Emotional Reactions and Reunion Moments
As the capsule door opened, the women emerged with emotional reactions. Perry kissed the ground and held up her daisy.
Nguyen screamed, Bowe cheered, and King gestured to the sky before kneeling and kissing the ground.
Flynn raised her hands and hugged Bezos. Sánchez walked off tearfully to greet her children.
Celebrity Support and Launch-Day Attendance
Celebrity friends attended the launch, including Oprah Winfrey, Khloe Kardashian, and Kris Jenner. Winfrey wore yellow in honour of King’s call sign “Sunshine.”
Winfrey said, “I’ve never been more proud of my friend than today.”
Jenner said Kim Kardashian couldn’t attend due to law school commitments. Kardashian was studying for an exam.
Khloe Kardashian stated, “Dream big, wish for the stars and one day you can maybe be amongst them.”
Figure 3: Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian at the launch event
Pre-Flight Reactions and Mission Significance
Perry described the moment as a tribute to her family. “I love them so much,” she said. “I am so grateful to be representing a fearless female in my family.”
King admitted to nerves before launch. “I’ll be ready Monday morning, I promise,” she said before the mission.
She said, “The group of women that they put together is so extraordinary to me that I thought, ‘Wow. Why would I not wanna be a part of that?’”
Nguyen spoke about the importance of presenting multidimensional women. “We contain multitudes. Women are multitudes,” she said.
Glamour Meets Space as Crew Celebrates Identity
Perry told Elle magazine, “Space is going to finally be glam.” She confirmed she wore makeup and carried lipstick aboard.
Sánchez joked about lash extensions floating in the capsule, while King confirmed hers were secure.
Nguyen emphasised, “This dichotomy of engineer and scientist, and then beauty and fashion.”
“Take up space!”
A daisy for Daisy, a Bahamas patch and a shoutout to Vietnam — here are the ways Blue Origin’s first all-women crew celebrated their moment in space, bringing their loved ones with them from the Earth below. https://t.co/fWre9mBiNZ pic.twitter.com/9DTpQPSYSs
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 14, 2025
New Shepard and Blue Origin’s Commercial Vision
The New Shepard operates autonomously without professional astronauts onboard. It is fully reusable and designed for suborbital spaceflights.
Blue Origin has conducted 30 missions, most without human passengers. NASA has used it for scientific payloads.
The company aims to expand the commercial space sector alongside rivals SpaceX and Virgin Galactic.
First All-Woman Space Flight Since 1963
The NS-31 mission marks the first all-female crew in space since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission in 1963.
Previous celebrity participants include William Shatner in 2021 and Michael Strahan on a later flight.
This launch further establishes Blue Origin’s place in commercial space history.
