Topline
Pop star Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez (fiancée of Jeff Bezos), and news anchor Gayle King will be part of a six-person crew for Blue Origin’s upcoming spaceflight. According to Bezos’ aerospace company, this will be the first all-woman crew to travel to space in decades.
Key Facts
- Blue Origin announced the six-person crew for the latest mission of its New Shepard program on Thursday. The crew includes:
- Katy Perry (pop star)
- Lauren Sanchez (journalist and philanthropist)
- Gayle King (news anchor)
- Aisha Bowe (former NASA rocket scientist)
- Amanda Nguyen (research scientist)
- Kerianne Flynn (film producer)
- The mission is set to launch this spring and will last 11 minutes, reaching just beyond the Kármán line—the internationally recognized boundary of space, approximately 62 miles (100 km) above Earth.
- The New Shepard spacecraft is fully autonomous, meaning there are no pilots on board, and every crew member is considered an astronaut.
- According to NASA, the last all-woman spaceflight took place on June 16, 1963, when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, spending three days in orbit.
Who Else Has Bezos Sent to Space?
- Since 2021, Blue Origin has completed 10 manned flights, carrying celebrities, paying customers, and company executives.
- Jeff Bezos himself flew on New Shepard’s first mission in July 2021.
- In October 2021, Star Trek actor William Shatner became the oldest person to travel to space at 90 years old.
How Much Does a Ticket to Space Cost?
Most passengers on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket pay for their seats, though some high-profile figures, like William Shatner, have flown for free. While the exact ticket price remains undisclosed, Blue Origin requires potential passengers to fill out an application and place a $150,000 refundable deposit. Early reports suggested that a seat could cost at least $200,000. The first publicly sold ticket was auctioned in 2021 to an anonymous bidder for $28 million.
Key Background
Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, has taken over two dozen people to space, competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic in the race to expand commercial space tourism.
- In September 2022, a New Shepard launch failure prompted an FAA investigation, which concluded in 2023 with a directive for Blue Origin to make design improvements to its engine and nozzle components.
- The New Shepard rocket has flown 19 uncrewed missions, primarily to carry scientific experiments, research payloads, and thousands of postcards from the nonprofit Club for the Future, which promotes STEM education.
