Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, successfully launched pop star Katy Perry into space, accompanied by five other prominent women: former NASA scientists Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen, journalist Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, who is also Bezos’s fiancée, and film producer Kerianne Flynn. The mission, designated NS-31, commenced aboard the New Shepard rocket at 8:30 AM CT / 9:30 AM ET and was streamed live on both YouTube and Blue Origin’s website.
Previous New Shepard missions have brought passengers to the threshold of space, allowing them brief moments to unbuckle and float freely within the capsule before securing themselves for the descent. Following today’s launch, the New Shepard rocket returned to its landing pad approximately seven minutes later, while the capsule containing the passengers landed more than three minutes afterward.
Ahead of the flight, Perry teased a “special reveal coming to you from zero gravity” in a video shared on Instagram. She also shared a previous clip showcasing a tour of the capsule. The singer mentioned that she might sing during the mission, but her reveal was not clear on the livestream, which experienced occasional interruptions.
This marks the 31st launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard program. The rocket’s previous mission took place in February, with notable past passengers including actor William Shatner and 90-year-old Ed Dwight, who was among the first candidates for America’s astronaut program but did not ultimately travel to space.
