Jeff Bezos space concern Blue Origin on Monday carried its eleventh group of civilian passengers into space in a mission that notably had an all-female celebrity crew, including Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez.
The mission was the first all-female spaceflight since 1963, when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova completed a three-day solo mission in orbit.
Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and former television journalist, invited the other members of the crew along on the 10-minute trip that blasted off from Van Horn, in west Texas, and took passengers across the Karman line 62 miles above Earth before employing three parachutes to land on the desert floor.
Space tourism
The other crew members on the fully automated NS-31 mission were singer-songwriter Katy Perry, television host Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn, former NASA engineer Aisha Bowe, and scientist Amanda Nguyen.
Blue Origin didn’t disclose the cost of the flight or how it was paid for.
Amazon founder Bezos created the company in 2000 and took part in its first space-tourist flight in 2021. He accompanied the latest crew to the launch pad.
Other celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, were also present in Texas to view the flight.
Perry sang “What a Wonderful World” while the flight hovered over Earth.
The crew recently carried out a joint interview with Elle magazine in which they said they would be getting “glammed up” for the flight, with Perry saying, “We are going to put the ‘ass’ in astronaut.”
The comments attracted criticism, with actress Olivia Munn calling the trip “a big gluttonous”.
“I know this is probably obnoxious, but like, it’s so much money to go to space, and there’s a lot of people who can’t even afford eggs,” she added.
Some other media celebrities have taken part in Blue Origin flights, including Star Trek actor William Shatner, who flew into space in 2021 at the age of 90.
Civilian flights
The company has carried 58 civilian passengers into space so far, including the latest flight, including businesspeople, TV hosts and YouTube influencers.
The Russian Space Agency and US space company SpaceX also carry tourists into space.
Jared Isaacman, a technology entrepreneur and current nominee to administrate NASA, carried out the first-ever civilian spacewalk last year as part of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, one of two times he has flown into space.
Blue Origin carried out the inaugural launch of its New Glenn cargo-carrying rocket in January, signalling increased competition for SpaceX in handling orbital payloads.