It was an all-female crew.
A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket successfully carried an all-female crew on a suborbital spaceflight Monday morning, completing an 11-minute journey over West Texas. The flight, dubbed NS-31, was the company’s 11th human mission and marked the first time a crew composed entirely of women traveled aboard the spacecraft. The capsule soared past the Kármán Line—approximately 62 miles above Earth—allowing the passengers to briefly experience weightlessness before safely parachuting back to the desert.
Among the six passengers were pop star Katy Perry, media personality Lauren Sanchez, and CBS anchor Gayle King. They were joined by Amanda Nguyen, a civil rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize nominee; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA aerospace engineer; and Kerianne Flynn, a science communicator and mother. The team launched from Blue Origin’s site near Van Horn, Texas, with family and celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Kris Jenner cheering them on from the ground.
Following the capsule’s return, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who was present at the site, greeted the crew. Emotional moments unfolded as Sanchez embraced Bezos and Perry kissed the ground in celebration. During the flight, Perry reportedly sang “What a Wonderful World,” later reflecting on the symbolism of women occupying space and empowering future generations. Sanchez expressed her awe by saying the experience was indescribable, while King remarked on the peacefulness of being in space.
Amanda Nguyen shared that the journey was deeply personal, offering a moment of healing after past trauma. Flynn celebrated her accomplishment as a mother, and all six passengers carried fan-submitted postcards aboard the flight—a tradition continued by Blue Origin. In addition, they engaged in small-scale scientific experiments as part of educational and research initiatives tied to the mission.
The ticket price for this specific flight was not disclosed, although earlier missions have included seats sold for millions of dollars. The women embraced the idea of bringing style to space, joking in preflight interviews about wearing “full glam.” This landmark mission is the first spaceflight exclusively with female crew members since 1963, when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova made history as the first woman in space.
