Pop icon Katy Perry is set to undertake a space expedition this spring with an all-female team on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket.
In an exciting announcement from Blue Origin, pop singer Katy Perry is set to embark on a space flight this spring as part of an all-female crew.
The six-member team, which features prominent individuals like journalist Lauren Sanchez and CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, will launch aboard the New Shepard rocket.
The mission aims to spotlight the growing participation of women in space exploration.
Founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin began its suborbital space tourism flights in 2021. The New Shepard rocket is named in honor of Alan Shepard, the first American in space.
To date, the company has successfully completed ten crewed missions, transporting a total of 52 people into suborbital space.
Flights from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in West Texas typically last around ten to eleven minutes, during which passengers enjoy several minutes of microgravity after crossing the Karman line, the internationally recognized boundary of space at 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level.
The rocket booster concludes its mission with a vertical landing, while the passenger capsule descends with parachutes for a gentle landing in the Texas desert.
In addition to Perry and Sanchez, the crew for this upcoming flight will include research scientist Amanda Nguyen, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
Notable past passengers of New Shepard include actor William Shatner and Jeff Bezos himself, who participated in the first crewed flight in July 2021.
Though ticket pricing details have not been revealed, it is typical for celebrities to receive complimentary seats on these missions.
Moreover, this marks the first all-female crewed spaceflight since Valentina Tereshkova’s historic solo mission in 1963, highlighting a significant achievement in the history of space travel.
Blue Origin aims to further various initiatives in space exploration.
In addition to its tourism projects, the company is also targeting the commercial launch market with successful tests of its New Glenn rocket.
It has secured a contract with NASA to create a lunar lander for the upcoming Artemis missions, aimed at returning humans to the Moon.
Additionally, New Glenn will enable the deployment of Project Kuiper, an ambitious satellite internet constellation designed to compete with
Elon Musk's Starlink initiative.
Both Bezos and Musk are deeply interested in space, though their visions differ, with Bezos focusing on using off-world locations for heavy industry to help preserve Earth, while Musk promotes efforts for colonizing Mars.