Blue Origin Completes Historic Spaceflight With All-Female Crew
Blue Origin made history on Monday by launching its first-ever all-female crew into space. The milestone mission, known as NS-31, marked the 11th human spaceflight and 31st overall for the space tourism company founded by Jeff Bezos.
The six-member crew featured a diverse group of accomplished women: aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe; human rights activist Amanda Nguyen; television journalist Gayle King; pop superstar Katy Perry; film producer Kerianne Flynn; and philanthropist and TV host Lauren Sánchez — who is also Bezos’s fiancée.
The team boarded their New Shepard capsule at the Blue Origin launch site in Van Horn, Texas, early Monday morning. The fully autonomous rocket carried them on a suborbital journey past the Kármán line — about 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth — where they experienced a few minutes of weightlessness before safely returning in a capsule landing on the desert floor.
Jeff Bezos personally greeted the crew upon landing, opening the capsule door and embracing Sánchez, who was visibly emotional.
“Earth looked so — it was so quiet. It was just quiet,” Sánchez said of the view from space.
Engineer Aisha Bowe was deeply moved by the experience: “There’s no boundaries, no border. There’s just Earth. I will never be the same.”
Amanda Nguyen, who survived sexual assault, carried a hospital bracelet from that time as her zero-gravity indicator — a symbolic item chosen to float freely in the cabin during weightlessness. “It’s a reminder to never, never give up,” she said.
Pop star Katy Perry, who brought a daisy in honor of her daughter, Daisy, said, “This experience is second only to being a mom.” She also sang “What a Wonderful World” during the flight.
CBS Mornings host Gayle King, along with Perry, kissed the ground upon exiting the capsule.
“This flight wasn’t about me or my music,” Perry added. “It was about the energy we created together — a collective energy.”
The mission has been celebrated as a major moment for gender representation in space exploration and for Blue Origin’s growing role in commercial spaceflight.
