All eyes were on the West Texas desert Monday morning as Katy Perry and five other celebrities launched into space on a short flight aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket and capsule.
Joining Perry as part of the all-female crew was Gayle King, “CBS Mornings” co-host; Lauren Sánchez, a former journalist who is Jeff Bezos’ fiancée; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist; Amanda Nguyen, a bioastronautics research scientist; and Kerianne Flynn, a movie producer.
The high-profile launch drew a crowd, with several famous faces in attendance, including Oprah Winfrey, NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, former astronaut Mae Jemison, Kris Jenner and Khloé Kardashian.
Liftoff took place at 9:30 a.m. ET from Blue Origin’s launch site in Van Horn, Texas.
During the roughly 10-minute flight, the six crew members flew just above the Kármán line, an invisible boundary at an altitude of 62 miles that is widely accepted as the edge of space.
While in space, Bowe held up a patch representing the Bahamas and the women tumbled and did handstands in weightlessness. Perry also sang “What a Wonderful World” and held up a daisy.
"Daisies are common flowers, but they grow through any condition," Perry said after the flight. "They are resilient. They are powerful. They are strong."
It appeared to be a picture-perfect flight. The reusable New Shepard booster returned to Earth and landed vertically a few miles away from the launch site before the capsule made its own descent under parachutes and touched down in the Texas desert.
It was a jubilant and emotional return for all six crew members. Perry and King kissed the ground after they exited the spacecraft and most fought back tears as they described the experience of gazing back at Earth from the edge of space.
That's all from Texas
That wraps up our coverage of Blue Origin's NS-31 flight, with an all-female, celebrity crew. Thanks for following along!
Amanda Nguyen's message to sexual violence survivors
Nguyen, a rape survivor, talked about making her astronaut dream a reality and shared a message for others who have faced adversity.
"I just want every survivor and every person who's ever had a dream deferred to know that your dreams are valid," she said. "And even if your dreams are as wild as going to space, they matter. And you can get there too. If I can get there, you can get there too."
Gayle King addresses the 'haters'
Many space tourism trips have been criticized by the public, with some people seeing them as jaunts to suborbital (or orbital) space for the uber-wealthy.
Gayle King addressed the elephant in the room, saying she "heard" the haters.
"I'm not going to let you steal our joy," she said, adding that most people were "really excited and cheering us on" and realizing "what this mission means to young women, young girls and boys, too."
She later said that pushing to make space more accessible "isn't a zero-sum game," and doesn't mean that resources and time shouldn't also be put toward improving society on Earth.
Footage from inside the capsule
We got a first look at footage recorded inside the capsule during the flight.
The women floated through the capsule and tumbled around in weightlessness. Aisha Bowe held up a patch representing the Bahamas, Katy Perry showed off a daisy to one of the cameras, and the audience heard audio of the crew members gushing over the sights of the moon.
Blue Origin's 'audacious' vision
Audrey Powers, head of flight operations and maintenance with Blue Origin’s New Shepard program, said the company’s "audacious" vision is to make space more accessible to humans.
"We want to do that first and foremost, as we say, for the benefit of Earth, and New Shepard plays a really important role in that vision," she said.
Powers encouraged the six crew members on today’s flight to share their spaceflight experience with the world and "embrace every opportunity" to tell people what it was like and how they felt.
Powers herself flew aboard Blue Origin’s NS-18 mission in 2021, the same that "Star Trek" actor William Shatner took part in.
Press conference to start shortly
We are waiting for Blue Origin's press conference to begin. The room is almost full as everyone waits for the new astronauts to arrive.
Several famous guests are seated in the room, including Oprah Winfrey in the second row, NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, former astronaut Mae Jemison, Kris Jenner and Khloé Kardashian.
At least three previous Blue Origin astronauts are also in attendance, including Karsen Kitchen, who at 21 became the youngest woman to travel to space on Blue Origin’s NS-26 flight in August 2024; Sharon Hagle, who flew on the NS-20 flight in March 2022; and Emily Canderelli, who flew on the NS-28 mission in November 2024.
Other notable commercial astronauts are also here to show their support, including Hayley Arceneaux, who flew on SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission; Sian Proctor, who piloted the Inspiration4 flight; and Kellie Gerardi, who flew aboard a Virgin Galactic flight.
From blastoff to landing
The mountains of West Texas provided a stunning backdrop as the New Shepard launched this morning and returned to Earth roughly 10 minutes later.
Post-landing group photo
Dave Limp, Blue Origin’s CEO, posted a group photo on X after the capsule touched down in Texas.
“What an amazing crew!” he wrote. “Great flight this morning.”
Aisha Bowe says spaceflight has changed her
Bowe talked about the beauty of seeing Earth out of the capsule's windows, saying there were no visible boundaries or borders as they peered at the planet.
"I will never be the same," she said.
Bowe also described the connection she felt with her fellow crew members.
"You could just feel the energy in the capsule," she said. "And when we got up there and we got out of our seats, we all just looked at each other. There was this moment — and I can't wait for people to see it on the video — but there was a very special moment between all of us. And it's just beautiful."
Katy Perry feels 'super connected to love'
The pop star rated her spaceflight experience a "10 out of 10," describing it as a feeling that comes only second to becoming a mother.
"I feel super connected to love," Perry said.
The singer shared that she brought a daisy with her to space, a nod to her daughter Daisy, but also as a symbol of something greater.
"Daisies are common flowers, but they grow through any condition," Perry said. "They are resilient. They are powerful. They are strong."
