'I've got to sing in space....'; says Katy Perry ahead of all-female spaceflight

On April 14, six women, including pop star Katy Perry, are scheduled to embark on a brief but groundbreaking spaceflight aboard a self-driving rocket developed by Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos. The mission, named NS-31, marks Blue Origin's 11th human flight and will launch from Van Horn, Texas.

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Perry, 40, will be accompanied by broadcast journalist Gayle King, 70; Lauren Sanchez, 55, a media personality and Bezos' fiancée; Aisha Bowe, 38, a former NASA engineer; Amanda Nguyen, 33, a bioastronautics researcher; and Kerianne Flynn, a film producer. This event is notable as it represents the first all-female crewed spaceflight in 60 years since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova orbited Earth solo during the Vostok 6 mission in 1963.

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Perry expressed her excitement on Instagram, sharing that she had dreamed of going to space for 15 years and was honored to be part of a crew of inspiring women making history together. She also hinted that she might sing during the flight.

The flight, expected to last about 11 minutes, will be conducted aboard the New Shepard rocket, named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space. According to Blue Origin, the rocket system is fully reusable and was specifically built for human spaceflight. The vehicle will accelerate at over three times the speed of sound and cross the Kármán line—62 miles above Earth—recognized as the boundary of space. Passengers will experience around four minutes of weightlessness before descending and landing in the Texas desert via parachute.

The New Shepard rocket is autonomous, capable of flying to and from suborbital space without a human pilot. Blue Origin emphasizes its long-term vision of enabling millions to live and work in space, with a focus on restoring and sustaining Earth.

Sanchez, who played a leading role in assembling the crew, mentioned in interviews that she selected her fellow travelers based on their ability to inspire others. She believed that each member would share their space experience in meaningful ways that could shape how future generations view space exploration.

For the flight, the crew’s jumpsuits were redesigned to better fit women. Sanchez said traditional spacewear was often tailored from male designs. She reached out to fashion designers Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim, co-founders of Monse and creative directors at Oscar de la Renta, to revamp the attire. She described the new look as elegant yet playful, and relayed that Perry had jokingly remarked they were "putting the 'a--' in astronaut."

Despite the excitement, the mission has drawn some criticism. Actress Olivia Munn voiced skepticism about the flight’s purpose and cost, suggesting during a television appearance that the money could be better spent addressing urgent issues on Earth. She questioned whether such missions serve a truly meaningful purpose in the context of humanity’s greater needs.

In response, Sanchez and Bowe defended the flight’s significance. They emphasized the role of representation and storytelling in inspiring future generations. Sanchez noted that each of the crew members brings a unique voice to the mission, while Bowe highlighted the importance of seeing diverse individuals authentically pursuing careers in space-related fields.

Beyond the symbolism of this historic crew, Blue Origin has long-term goals that include using lunar dust for producing solar power systems and oxygen, and identifying water ice on the Moon’s south pole to extract hydrogen for refueling spacecraft. The company sees these steps as crucial for enabling sustained space exploration and development.