Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-31 launched six women from Launch Site One in West Texas on April 14, 2025, carried them above the 100-kilometer Kármán line, and returned them safely after a brief suborbital flight. The passengers were Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sánchez.
It was a genuine spaceflight and a major commercial-space publicity event. Its precise historical distinction is the first multi-person all-female crewed spaceflight since Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission in 1963—not the first time women alone had constituted a spaceflight.
What happened on Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission?
NS-31 was the 31st New Shepard flight and the program’s 11th mission carrying people. Blue Origin launched the fully automated vehicle from Launch Site One in West Texas on April 14, 2025. The capsule climbed to approximately 66 miles (107 kilometers), giving the passengers several minutes of weightlessness before the capsule descended under parachutes and landed roughly 10 minutes after liftoff.
Blue Origin describes the flight and crew in its NS-31 mission report. The Associated Press also reported the successful launch, altitude and return.
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This was a suborbital up-and-down flight, not an orbital mission. The capsule crossed the commonly used 100-kilometer boundary of space but did not build enough speed to orbit Earth. The capsule and booster returned during the same short flight, rather than remaining in space.
Who flew on NS-31?
| Participant | Background |
|---|---|
| Aisha Bowe | Former NASA rocket scientist, engineer, entrepreneur and STEM advocate; CEO of STEMBoard. |
| Amanda Nguyễn | Bioastronautics researcher and civil-rights advocate. |
| Gayle King | Journalist and co-host of CBS Mornings. |
| Katy Perry | Singer and philanthropist. |
| Kerianne Flynn | Film producer and nonprofit board member. |
| Lauren Sánchez | Journalist, helicopter pilot and author who organized and led the mission. |
Blue Origin’s crew announcement and mission report provide the participants’ biographies. Sánchez’s leadership role did not make her the pilot: New Shepard operated autonomously, and none of the six passengers operated the vehicle.
What made the flight historic?
The first multi-person all-female crew since 1963
NS-31 was the first crewed spaceflight with more than one passenger and no men aboard since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo Vostok 6 flight in 1963. Tereshkova’s mission matters to the wording: because she flew alone, it was already an all-female spaceflight in the sense that every person aboard was a woman.
For that reason, “the first all-female spaceflight” is incomplete. The accurate formulation is “the first all-female crewed spaceflight since 1963.” The Congressional Research Service and AP both make this distinction.
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A first for a U.S. flight
NS-31 was also the first U.S. spaceflight in which women occupied every seat. That is a separate, geographically specific claim from the broader comparison with Tereshkova’s Soviet mission.
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A milestone for commercial spaceflight
The flight showed how commercial suborbital missions can combine a real spaceflight with celebrity, media and representation. Blue Origin said New Shepard had carried 58 people to space by the completion of this mission, including four people who had flown twice.
Was this really “going to space”?
Yes, by the commonly used 100-kilometer Kármán-line definition presented by Blue Origin. But it was not orbital travel.
- Suborbital: The vehicle rose above the recognized boundary of space and then fell back to Earth without circling the planet.
- Microgravity: The passengers experienced several minutes of weightlessness near the top of the trajectory.
- Automated operation: New Shepard’s capsule and booster flew without one of the six passengers piloting or commanding the spacecraft.
- Short duration: The complete launch, ascent, weightlessness period, reentry and landing took about 10 minutes.
Blue Origin explains the New Shepard flight profile on its official flight page. Calling NS-31 a short commercial spaceflight is accurate; calling it an orbital expedition or a deep-space mission is not.
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Are the six women astronauts?
The answer depends on whether “astronaut” is being used commercially, colloquially or legally.
Blue Origin calls its customers astronauts. U.S. commercial-spaceflight law, however, places people transported on a commercial human-spaceflight mission who are neither government astronauts nor vehicle-operating crew in the category of spaceflight participants. The Congressional Research Service discusses that distinction in Who Is an Astronaut?
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The Federal Aviation Administration no longer awards its former “Commercial Space Astronaut Wings” designation. It does maintain a recognition list for people who have traveled beyond 50 miles on an FAA-licensed or FAA-permitted vehicle, and CRS reported that the six NS-31 participants appeared on that list.
Precise wording is therefore “Blue Origin astronauts” when describing the company’s terminology, or “commercial spaceflight participants” when discussing their legal status. Aisha Bowe’s work as a former NASA rocket scientist should not be confused with having been a NASA astronaut.
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Associated Press reported that Perry sang “What a Wonderful World” during the flight. The moment reinforced the mission’s highly public, celebrity-facing presentation, while the flight itself remained a short automated suborbital journey.
Bowe was scheduled to conduct research experiments, but NS-31 was principally a commercial human-spaceflight mission rather than a government-led scientific expedition.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why did the mission attract criticism?
Celebrity and publicity
The visibility of Perry, King and Sánchez made NS-31 unusually prominent. Critics argued that the event’s celebrity framing could overshadow the less famous participants and turn a complex aerospace milestone into entertainment coverage.
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Access and wealth
Private suborbital flights are available to a very small group, raising questions about who gets access to space and whether a few minutes of weightlessness justify the expense and environmental cost. Blue Origin did not disclose the mission’s price or the individual financial arrangements. A historical $150,000 reservation figure mentioned by TechCrunch should not be treated as the price paid by this crew or as a current ticket price.
What “historic” means
Supporters saw an all-female crew as meaningful representation in aerospace. Skeptics questioned whether a brief commercial flight should be presented primarily as a feminist or scientific achievement. Both points can coexist: NS-31 completed a real spaceflight and set a precise gender-composition milestone, while its access and marketing model remain open to criticism.
Those criticisms do not show that the flight was fake or that it failed. They concern the meaning, access and presentation of commercial spaceflight.
What NS-31 did—and did not—prove
| It did demonstrate | It did not demonstrate |
|---|---|
| A successful commercial suborbital flight with six women aboard. | Orbital travel or an extended stay in space. |
| A first multi-person all-female crew since 1963 and the first U.S. flight with women in every seat. | A NASA mission or a new crewed spacecraft design. |
| Several minutes of microgravity and a safe automated return. | That the passengers piloted or operated the vehicle. |
| The growing role of celebrity and media in private human spaceflight. | A universally settled legal definition of “astronaut.” |
Why the headline needs precision
“Blue Origin’s all-female crew, including Katy Perry, successfully launched” describes a real completed event, but the useful account is more specific. NS-31 launched on April 14, 2025, crossed the recognized boundary of space, delivered several minutes of weightlessness and returned safely. Its historical claim is the first multi-person all-female crew since Tereshkova’s 1963 solo flight, alongside the U.S.-specific first of women occupying every seat.
The Bottom Line
NS-31 was a successful, fully automated suborbital spaceflight—not an orbital mission—with the first multi-person all-female crew since 1963; “spaceflight participants” is the most legally precise term for its passengers.
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