Pop Star Katy Perry Launches Into Space With All-Female Crew

Pop icon Katy Perry was launched into space on a sub-orbital journey aboard Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission.

Perry was one of six women participating in the flight, which is part of Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard program. The mission was put together by Bezos’ partner, journalist Lauren Sanchez, who was also on board. They were joined by former NASA aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, civil rights advocate Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket soared into space after blastoff from the company’s West Texas launch facility at 9:30 a.m. ET on Monday.

The eight-minute flight traveled more than 62 miles into the atmosphere, past the Kármán line, which per Blue Origin is the “internationally recognized boundary of space.” Blue Origin promises passengers in its burgeoning space tourism business that the trip offers the chance to experience “several minutes of weightlessness and witnessing life-changing views of Earth.” The module containing the astronauts, suspended from three parachutes, landed several minutes after the rocket.

“The Crew Capsule reached an apogee of 346,802 ft AGL / 350,449 ft MSL (106 km AGL / 107 km MSL),” Blue Origin wrote on X. “The booster reached an apogee of 346,481 ft AGL / 350,128 ft MSL (106 km AGL / 107 km MSL). Official launch time was 8:30:00 AM CDT / 13:30:00 UTC. Capsule landing occurred at 8:40:21 AM CDT / 13:40:21 UTC.” 

Perry explained why she sang “What a Wonderful World” in space after touching back down in Texas on the Blue Origin rocket with her all-female crew.

“It’s not about me. It’s not about singing my songs, it’s about a collective energy in there, it’s about us, it’s about making space for future women and taking up space and belonging, and it’s about this wonderful world that we see right out there and appreciating it,” Perry said. “This is all for the benefit of Earth.”