Blue Origin has now successfully launched its first all-women crew aboard the New Shepard NS-31 mission. The 10-minute suborbital flight carried six women across the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, before returning safely to Earth. The deposit for the flight alone costed somewhere around ₹1.3 crores.
Leading the mission was Lauren Sánchez, media personality and executive vice president of the Bezos Earth Fund. Sánchez, who is also engaged to Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, has been a vocal advocate for expanding women’s roles in aerospace.
The high-profile crew also included global pop icon Katy Perry, who performed a short rendition of “What a Wonderful World” during the flight. Perry carried a daisy in tribute to her daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom, calling it a personal and symbolic gesture for future generations.
Joining them was Gayle King, award-winning journalist and co-host of CBS Mornings, who documented the experience to bring the story to a broader audience.
Aisha Bowe, an aerospace engineer and former NASA mission planner, became the sixth Black woman to reach space by being a part of the crew. She is the founder of STEMBoard, a company dedicated to increasing access to science and engineering education.
Civil rights advocate and bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen also flew on the mission. A Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Nguyen is recognized for her pioneering work in sexual assault survivor rights and her involvement in space science.
Kerianne Flynn, a film producer and close friend of Sánchez, completed the crew. Her role underscored the growing intersection of storytelling and space exploration.
The flight lasted around 11 minutes and can completely change space tourism as we view it today. However, the move has drawn criticism from around the demograph. Model Emily Ratajkowski called the flight “not an accomplishment,” questioning its substance. Critics like The Guardian’s Moira Donegan argued the event was emblematic of “capitalist feminism,” commercialization of space.
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