Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-31 carried six women—Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sánchez—on a suborbital flight from West Texas on April 14, 2025. The automated trip lasted about 10 minutes and reached the edge of space. Blue Origin called it the first all-female crewed spaceflight since 1963, when Valentina Tereshkova flew alone; it was not the first time women had gone to space.
What happened on Blue Origin’s NS-31 flight?
NS-31 was New Shepard’s 11th human spaceflight, according to Blue Origin’s mission record. The company’s launch announcement placed the flight at Launch Site One in West Texas, with a launch window opening at 8:30 a.m. CDT on April 14.
The Associated Press reported that the capsule climbed to about 66 miles (107 kilometers), giving the crew a few minutes of weightlessness before it returned under parachutes. The flight was fully automated and lasted roughly 10 minutes. Space.com described the capsule as crossing the Kármán line, using 62 miles (100 kilometers) as that boundary, and landing about 10 minutes after launch. These are rounded figures reported by different outlets; the accounts use different boundary conventions.
Who was on the all-female crew?
- Aisha Bowe — former NASA rocket scientist and STEM advocate, according to Blue Origin.
- Amanda Nguyễn — bioastronautics research scientist and civil rights advocate, according to Blue Origin.
- Gayle King — journalist and CBS Mornings co-host.
- Katy Perry — recording artist.
- Kerianne Flynn — film producer.
- Lauren Sánchez — journalist, pilot and author, and the person who brought the mission together, according to Blue Origin.
The crew included people known for science, advocacy, journalism, music, film and storytelling. Their public profiles helped make NS-31 a celebrity spaceflight as well as a milestone in crew composition.
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What does “first all-female crew since 1963” mean?
Blue Origin described NS-31 as the first all-female crewed spaceflight since Valentina Tereshkova’s 1963 mission. Tereshkova was the first woman in space, but she flew alone. The distinction is therefore about an all-women crew, not about women reaching space for the first time.
The Congressional Research Service notes that commercial spaceflight operators, including Blue Origin, call customers astronauts. “Space tourist,” “private astronaut” and “spaceflight participant” are also used for private passengers, particularly those without scientific, operational or safety duties. The FAA canceled its Commercial Space Astronaut Wings program in December 2021 and no longer awards that designation. The terminology debate does not change the flight’s trajectory or whether it reached space; a neutral description is that the six women were crew members or passengers on a suborbital spaceflight.
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How long was Katy Perry’s space flight, and how high did it go?
The Associated Press reported a flight time of roughly 10 minutes and an altitude of about 66 miles (107 kilometers). Space.com reported about four minutes of weightlessness and described the capsule crossing the 62-mile (100-kilometer) Kármán line. Both accounts characterize a short suborbital trip: New Shepard rose above the atmosphere’s commonly cited boundary of space, then returned to Earth rather than entering orbit.
What is known about the flight’s cost?
The Associated Press reported that Blue Origin did not disclose how much NS-31 cost or who paid what. There is no substantiated basis in the available reporting to assign a ticket price to any crew member or to say that the participants paid for their seats.
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What did the NS-31 mission patch represent?
Blue Origin’s recap explains that the patch used a target star for Bowe, scales of justice for Nguyễn, a shooting-star microphone for King, a firework for Perry and a film reel for Flynn. It also featured Flynn the Fly, the character from Sánchez’s 2024 children’s book The Fly Who Flew to Space. The patch turns the crew’s different careers and interests into a shared mission emblem.
Blue Origin’s official recap also linked the character to the mission and quoted New Shepard Senior Vice President Phil Joyce: “What a privilege to witness this crew of trailblazers depart the capsule today.”
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