Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ commercial space tourism company, had its 11th human flight to the edge of space with an all-female crew on 14 April, 2025.
The crew of six had pop star Katy Perry, journalist Lauren Sanchez, former NASA engineer Aisha Bowe, Activist Amanda Nguyen, CBS presenter Gayle King, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
The flight took off from the West Texas launch facility on a New Shepard rocket and reached an altitude of 100 kilometres (62 miles) and lasted 11 minutes.
The flight was fully automated and allowed the tourists to enjoy weightlessness for about three minutes.
They drew a lot of media attention, and many of them were overwhelmed and kissed the ground on their return.
Television personality, Oprah Winfrey, was among those who witnessed the flight that took her friend, Gayle King, to the edge of suborbital space and back.
The flight was also significant for Aisha Bowe from Bahamas for being the first Bahamanian in space.
Amanda Nguyen became the first Vietnamese woman in space.
They all described the experience as unforgettable.
The event was, however, not without criticism. Each of the women paid an initial deposit of $150 thousand for the spaceflight in a world where children are starving in some countries.
They are not being criticised because they are women; a group of six rich men would equally be criticised for such a mission.
The spaceflight was completely automated, so the argument that they took the trajectory used by the first American in space, Alan Shepard, does not hold.
Some people see them as rich tourists, not astronauts, as their joy ride had nothing to do with science.
Some were angered by Kate Perry singing “What a wonderful world” in the few minutes of weightlessness in the spaceflight.
Meanwhile, the six have received their astronauts’ wings and are determined not to let anyone steal their joy after weeks of training for the mission.
Kate Perry is now the first pop star in space.
It will be interesting to see how more women and young girls will be interested in space, as they hope, because of their mission.
