Pop star Katy Perry and five other women launched into space on a Blue Origin rocket and successfully returned to Earth on April 14, 2025, marking the first all-female spaceflight in more than 60 years.
Key Highlights
- The crew lifted off from West Texas (USA) and travelled to the edge of space.
- The flight lasted around 11 minutes and took the six women more than 100km (62 miles) above Earth, crossing the internationally recognised boundary of space (Karman Line) and giving them a few moments of weightlessness.
- The spaceflight is a high-profile win for Mr. Bezos’ New Shepard launch vehicle, which has been developed for space tourism.
- It was the first all-female spaceflight since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova — the first woman on a solo space mission aboard the spacecraft Vostok 6— orbited the Earth during a nearly three-day solo flight.
- Blue Origin is a private space company founded in 2000 by Bezos, the billionaire entrepreneur who also started Amazon.
- The New Shepard rocket is designed to be fully reusable and its booster returns to the launch pad for vertical landings after each flight, reducing overall costs.
