The Blue Origin New Shepard mission, NS-31, was scheduled for liftoff at 9:30 a.m. E.T. on Monday, April 14, 2025.
The all-female flight carried Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, pop star Katy Perry, American TV personality Gayle King, CEO of STEMBoard Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyễn and film producer Kerianne Flynn is New Shepard’s 11th human flight since its first crewed flight in 2021.
The flight to space lasted around 11 minutes.
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Both FOXBusiness.com and FoxNews.com livestreamed the six women taking off from Launch Site One in West Texas. Additionally, viewers tuned in on the official Blue Origin website and on YouTube.
The flight path passed the Kármán line, a boundary 62 miles above mean sea level that borders Earth’s atmosphere and the beginning of space, according to Space.com. Then, the rocket unbuckled to float weightless while the women had an unobstructed view of the Earth until they made their way to landing. The crew returned home when their return pod landed by parachute.
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Sánchez was the first to exit the return pod, which she opened to find Bezos waiting to hug her. When Perry exited the pod, she kissed the Texas ground.
Celebrities including Kris Jenner, Perry’s husband Orlando Bloom and Oprah Winfrey were in attendance to witness the all-female flight take off and land. Winfrey was seen wiping tears from her eyes as she watched the rocket launch.
Perry, in a post-landing interview, told reporters she sang “What a Wonderful World” while in space.
“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 with tears in her eyes. “This is all for the benefit of Earth.”
About the official NS-31 patch
The official NS-31 patch was revealed in late March and features the last names of each woman in addition to six silhouettes of women.
The patch was further personalized to pay tribute to the individuals on the rocket. A target star was provided for Bowe, pointing to her ambition to set big goals, according to the Blue Origin website.
Nguyễn was honored with a scale of justice symbol to emphasize her work in civil rights activism. A shooting star microphone points to King’s commitment to storytelling through news, and a firework for Perry emphasizes her global influence through music, according to the space technology company’s site.
Finally, Flynn is represented on the Blue Origin NS-31 patch with a film reel symbol for her work in the entertainment industry, and Sánchez is acknowledged by Flynn the Fly, the main character in the bestselling children’s book “The Fly Who Flew to Space,” penned by the journalist.
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