All-female crew, including singer Katy Perry, blast off on Blue Origin rocket
Crew also included astrophysicist and filmmaker
Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin launched his fiancée Lauren Sanchez into space Monday with an all-female celebrity crew that included singer-songwriter Katy Perry and CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King.
It was the latest wave in space tourism, where more of the rich and famous than ever before — or lucky and well-connected — can enter the zero-gravity realm traditionally dominated by professional astronauts.
The New Shepard rocket blasted off on a quick up-and-down trip from West Texas. The fringes of space beckoned some 105 kilometres up, promising a few precious minutes of weightlessness.
Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and former TV journalist, invited the others along for the 10-minute, fully automated flight.
In addition to Perry and King, also sharing the ride were film producer Kerianne Flynn; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA engineer who started her own companies to promote science education; and Amanda Nguyen, a scientist who studied planets around other stars and now advocates for survivors of sexual violence.
Blue Origin declined to say how much the flight cost or who paid what.
It was the 11th human space flight for the Washington state-based company, founded by Bezos in 2000 after making a fortune with Amazon. Bezos strapped in for Blue Origin's first space tourist flight in 2021 and accompanied the latest crew to the pad.
The celebrity launch was the first U.S. space flight where women filled each seat. The only other all-female crew in 64 years of human space flight was back in 1963, when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova launched by herself, becoming the first woman in space. Tereshkova spent three days off the planet.
Even after the latest launch, women represent barely 15 per cent of the more than 700 people who have travelled into space. Sanchez said she deliberately chose women to launch with her, each of them eager to inspire both the young and old to dream big, and even commissioned special flight suits.
"It's an important moment for the future of commercial space travel and for humanity in general and for women all around," Perry told The Associated Press last week.
The launch brought out VIPs to West Texas, including Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and other members of the Kardashian family, and several women who previously have flown on private flights. Winfrey, a close friend of King, wiped away tears when the capsule reached space and the passengers were heard marvelling at the moon and shouting with joy.
As the women were buckling up after a few minutes of weightlessness, Perry sang a few lines of What a Wonderful World, King said in a post-launch televised interview.
"It's not about me. It's not about singing my songs," Perry said following the flight. "It's about a collective energy in there. It's about us." At a news conference later, she stressed, "We weren't just taking up space. We were making space for the future."
Bezos opened the capsule's hatch minutes after touchdown, embracing Sanchez, the first one out. As they emerged, Perry and King kneeled and kissed the ground.
"Oh my God, that was amazing," said King, who considers herself an anxious airplane flyer.
A list of celebrities
This wasn't the first Blue Origin launch with marquee names.
Star Trek actor William Shatner caught a lift to space with Blue Origin in 2021 at age 90, soon after Bezos's inaugural trip. He was followed by former New York Giants defensive end and TV host Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, for whom the rocket is named. Two aviation pioneers who missed out on space when they were younger — Wally Funk and Ed Dwight — also rocketed away at ages 82 and 90, respectively.
Most of Blue Origin's passengers — 58, counting the latest launch — have been business or science types, TV hosts or YouTubers. Ticket prices are not disclosed.
The Russian Space Agency also has launched its share of space tourists, beginning with a California financier in 2001. Two decades later, a Russian actress filmed aboard the International Space Station.
Elon Musk's SpaceX also sells multi-day trips to private customers. SpaceX's first client to fly, billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, already has launched twice and performed the first private spacewalk. He's now set to become NASA's next administrator, if confirmed by the Senate.
Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang just returned from the first space flight to carry people over the North and South poles. Wang picked up the whole SpaceX tab for himself and three polar explorers for an undisclosed sum.
"In this exciting new era of commercial space flight, the dream of becoming an astronaut is no longer limited to a select few," Wang said via X last week.