On April 14, 2025, Blue Origin launched its New Shepard NS-31 mission carrying six women – the first all-female crew to reach space since 1963.
Pop superstar Katy Perry, Blue Origin pilot Lauren Sánchez (fiancée of Jeff Bezos), CBS host Gayle King, former NASA engineer Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and producer Kerianne Flynn together experienced an 11-minute suborbital flight to the edge of space and back.
This culturally significant journey was hailed as a “high-profile success” for Blue Origin’s space tourism program and a milestone for representation at a time when only about 14% of people who have gone to space have been women.
Below, each crew member shares personal insights from before, during, and after this historic flight, highlighting themes of empowerment, unity, and human achievement.
Katy Perry: Inspiring Future Generations and “Divine Feminine” Energy
As the most famous member of the crew, Katy Perry used her platform to emphasize that the mission was about something larger than herself. “It’s not about me. It’s not about singing my songs,” Perry explained.
“It’s about a collective energy in there, it’s about us, it’s about making space for future women and taking up space and belonging… This is all for the benefit of Earth”.
During the few minutes of weightlessness, Perry even began singing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” underscoring the awe and gratitude the crew felt while gazing at our planet from 100 km up.
After landing, Perry was emotional – clutching a daisy she had brought along in honor of her young daughter. “I feel super connected to love,” she said when asked about the flower.
“I think this experience has shown me you never know how much love is inside of you… and how loved you are until the day you launch”.
The pop star spoke of “surrender to the unknown” and described the spaceflight as “about more than going to space”, comparing it to a spiritual journey.
“What you’re doing is really finding the love for yourself. I’m really feeling that divine feminine right now,” Perry remarked post-flight. She noted that an all-women crew making it to space has “historic ramifications” and sends a powerful message.
“It’s an important moment for the future of commercial space travel and for humanity in general and for women all around,” Perry said. “I just feel like, ‘Put us in, coach’” – signaling that women are ready to take on more leadership roles in the space arena.
Lauren Sánchez: Awe, Connection, and a Playful Pre-Launch Joke
Lauren Sánchez – who led the mission – shared how profoundly the flight affected her perspective.
In a post-flight interview, Sánchez struggled to put the spectacle of Earth into words: “I don’t think you can describe it. It was quiet but also really alive. And you look at it, and you’re like, ‘We’re all in this together.’… We’re so connected – more connected than you realize,” she said, describing the view of our planet from space.
The experience filled her with “joy and camaraderie” alongside her crewmates, and a sense of “we’re doing this [together]” as they floated weightless as a team. The overwhelming feeling of unity made Sánchez “just want to hug everybody” back on Earth.
Sánchez also kept her sense of humor about the risks of spaceflight.
Before launch, she jokingly reassured fiancé Jeff Bezos that he didn’t need to literally shoot her into space to prove his commitment. “I said, ‘Jeff, if you don’t want to marry me, you don’t have to send me to space!’” she laughed. (Bezos was waiting on the ground in West Texas and was the first to embrace Sánchez as she stepped out of the capsule safely.)
Tears flowed as she told Bezos, “I had to come back… we’re getting married. If I didn’t come back, that would be a bummer for me,” mixing relief with lighthearted charm.
For Sánchez, who is a licensed helicopter pilot and former TV journalist, the mission’s real reward was the newfound appreciation of Earth’s fragility and the bond between all people: “The Earth looked so quiet but also really alive… we are all in this together,” she said, highlighting how the journey reinforced her sense of global unity.
Gayle King: From Terrified to Triumphant – “I Can Take On Anything”
Television host Gayle King openly admitted that this adventure pushed her far beyond her comfort zone – and that was exactly the point.
“I had a lot of trepidation – I still do – but I also know it’s very interesting to be terrified and excited at the same time. I haven’t felt like this since childbirth… it’s about stepping out of your comfort zone,” King said before the flight.
In fact, King is known to be afraid of flying, yet she conquered her fears to join the mission. Her flight instructor even called her the “best success story” of their training, King proudly noted.
When the capsule touched back down, an elated Gayle King dropped to her knees to kiss the ground – overcome with emotion. She later downplayed any notion that she’s suddenly an “astronaut,” but emphasized how empowering the experience was.
“I stepped out of my comfort zone in a way I never thought was possible for me, and now that I’ve done it, I really do feel I can take on anything,” King said after landing. Seeing the world from 62 miles up also gave her a new perspective on life back home.
“It’s oddly quiet when you get up there… really quiet and peaceful, and you look down at the planet and think, ‘That’s where we came from?’ To me, it’s such a reminder about how we need to do better, be better… human beings,” she observed, hoping that more people could experience that transcendent peace.
The trip left King feeling profound gratitude and boldness – she even joked that her newfound courage might finally help her conquer a very down-to-earth fear: “Maybe now I’ll get my ears pierced!” she laughed, referencing a long-standing personal phobia.
Other Crew Members: Dreams Realized and Messages of Empowerment
The three other members of the crew – Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, and Kerianne Flynn – each brought unique backgrounds and took away inspiring lessons from the mission:
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Aisha Bowe, a tech CEO and former NASA rocket scientist, fulfilled a lifelong aspiration by going to space. The journey left her feeling validated in all her hard work and dreams. “I picked the right dream,” Bowe said simply, reflecting on her decision years ago to pursue aerospace engineering and now seeing it literally pay off among the stars.
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Amanda Nguyen, a scientist and civil rights activist (now the first Vietnamese-American woman in space, used the platform to inspire others overcoming adversity. She described the spaceflight as a healing experience in her own journey as a sexual-assault survivor and returned with an empowering message for everyone watching: “You can heal. No dream is too wild,” Nguyen declared, encouraging survivors and dreamers alike to never give up hope.
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Kerianne Flynn, an independent film producer who helped document the mission, was moved to tears by the grandeur of it all. The normally talkative storyteller was briefly “rendered… speechless” by the view from space and the camaraderie she felt. Fighting back happy tears after landing, Flynn expressed her broader wish that “these types of experiences clear a path for everyone to be able to do that” one day. In other words, she hopes what they accomplished will open doors so that anyone – regardless of gender or background – can experience the wonder of space in the future.
Mission Impact and Blue Origin’s Vision
The New Shepard rocket carrying the all-female crew lifts off from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas, making history on April 14, 2025 (Blue Origin via Reuters)
Blue Origin’s first all-women flight was not only a cultural moment but also a significant step for the company’s space tourism ambitions. The successful NS-31 mission demonstrated the reuse of the New Shepard rocket and capsule, which are designed to fly passengers frequently and safely to suborbital space.
“The spaceflight was a high-profile success for Bezos’ New Shepard launch vehicle,” Reuters noted, highlighting that it was developed to kick-start commercial space tourism. Blue Origin’s long-term goal is to make access to space more routine and inclusive; the company says its reusable rockets aim to “radically reduce the cost of access to space” for the public.
In this case, the symbolism of an all-female crew amplified the mission’s impact. “Only 14% of people who have gone to space so far have been women,” the Associated Press pointed out, underscoring how trailblazing this crew wasapnews.com.
By shattering that glass ceiling, the flight carried a message far beyond the 10-minute journey. As Katy Perry put it, this launch was “an important moment for… humanity in general and for women all around”– a moment of empowerment, unity, and inspiration that resonated around the globe.
Every member of Blue Origin’s historic all-female crew returned to Earth with a story to tell – from Perry’s spiritual musings and Sánchez’s awe at Earth’s beauty, to King’s conquering of fear and the other members’ hopeful messages. Their words and actions have helped turn a short spaceflight into a lasting statement about women’s potential and the value of inclusion in humanity’s final frontier.
The cultural significance was not lost on those cheering below: Oprah Winfrey, who watched her friend Gayle King launch, perhaps summed it up best. “This is bigger than just going to space,” Winfrey said of the voyage, “Life is about continuing to grow into the fullest expression of yourself”.
In that sense, Blue Origin’s all-female mission was a triumph not just of engineering, but of the human spirit – showing millions that barriers can be overcome and that no dream is truly too wild.
