Pop star Katy Perry joined an all-female crew on a brief space voyage aboard Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket, reaching the edge of space.
The “Firework” singer and five other women, including Bezos’s fiancée Lauren Sanchez, travelled over 60 miles above Earth, experiencing a 10-minute suborbital flight.
The mission, launched from Texas, surpassed the Karman line, the recognised boundary of space.
The crew capsule detached mid-flight and returned to Earth via parachutes and a retro rocket. Perry and her fellow passengers emerged jubilant, with Perry kissing the ground.
This flight marked the first all-female space crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s 1963 solo mission and Blue Origin’s 11th crewed suborbital trip. The company, which offers space tourism, does not disclose ticket prices.
Perry cited her daughter as her inspiration for the journey, hoping to show her that dreams have no limits.
She also shared her surprise at discovering the capsule was named “Tortoise,” her parents’ nickname for her.
The crew included TV presenter Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, and Amanda Nguyen, an activist against sexual violence. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey was among those watching the launch.
Blue Origin’s high-profile flights aim to maintain public interest as they compete with rivals like Virgin Galactic in the space tourism sector.
The company’s long-term goal is to offer orbital flights, challenging SpaceX.
Blue Origin recently achieved a successful unmanned orbital test flight with its New Glenn rocket.
