Pop star Katy Perry will explode into space in an all-woman flight on Blue Origin’s new Shepherd rocket.
The fireworks singer will be part of the fireworks singer Lauren Sanchez, fiancée of Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos, CBS host Gayle King, former NASA Rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
Blue Origin said this was the first full-woman space flight since the Soviet Union’s Valentina Tereshkova’s solo in 1963.
There is no specific date for the launch, but Blue Origin says it will be held this spring.
Katy Perry plans to take her life trip from April 23 to November 11, so the trip is expected to be before that.
“If you told me I would be part of the first all-female staff in space, I would believe you. My imagination was beyond my imagination as a kid.”
The NS-31 mission will be the new Shepherd and the 11th human space flight in the history of No. 31. So far, the program has pushed 52 people into space.
According to Blue Origin, the trip to the new Shepard usually lasts about 11 minutes. It is completely autonomous – meaning no pilot – and takes passengers through the Karman line, internationally recognized as the edge of space.
Blue Origin believes Lauren Sanchez brings the mission together and said in a press release that she is “honestly leading a group of explorers on missions that will challenge their perspective on the planet, enabling them to share their stories and have lasting impacts and inspire generations.”
In an interview with Vogue in 2023, Sanchez announced that her plan to fly with the crew of the National on the Blue Origin Rocket in 2023, saying they are “paving the way for women.”
This is the latest celebrity to start flights to space.
Bezos himself flew on his first manned mission in 2021.
Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, traveled on his company VSS Unity spacecraft in July 2021. But SpaceX founder Elon Musk has not traveled yet.
