Katy Perry, Gayle King Traveled to Space On an All-female Blue Origin Rocket

• Blue Origin has successfully completed its 11th human space flight.
• On board the all-female crew were A-list celebrities like Katy Perry and Gayle King.
• The women astronauts crossed the Kármán line into space and experienced weightlessness.

Katy Perry and Gayle King are now officially astronauts.

The multi-platinum singer nominee and CBS Mornings co-host were part of Blue Origin’s 11th human flight—and first with an all-female flight team—on the New Shephard’s NS-31 mission. It blasted off from West Texas’ Launch Site One at 9:30 a.m ET on a flight that lasted about 10 minutes. 

Along with them were aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, civil right activist; scientist Amanda Nguyễn; film producer Kerianne Flynn, and author Lauren Sánchez, the fiancée of Blue Origin and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The flight also marked the first women-only space crew since 1963.

“This experience has shown me you never know how much love is inside of you, how much love you have to give, and how loved you are, until the day you launch,” Perry said in her post-flight interview on the Blue Origin livestream, calling the experience “second only to being a mom” and rating it “10 out of 10.” 

The fully autonomous spacecraft offers the most panoramic views of any vehicle of its kind with one-third of the surface area being translucent. The women flew past the Kármán line 62 miles above the planet, which some consider the border into space, where they experienced a few minutes of weightlessness. 

Watching from the ground were King’s best friend of 50 years, Oprah Winfrey, and Perry’s daughter and fiancé, actor Orlando Bloom. Both were seen visually emotional, clasping their faces at times.

But all went exactly as planned as the vessel parachuted back to earth successfully.

“When you get up there, it’s really quiet and peaceful, and you look down at the planet and you think, that’s where we came from,” King said after the flight. “To me, it’s such a reminder about how we need to do better, be better.” 

Winfrey beamed with pride as well on her friend’s landmark day. “I’ve never been more proud of her,” the talk show legend said from the launch site watching her friend soar out to the skies above her. “This is bigger than just going to space. Anytime we’re on [an airplane] flight, she’s in anybody’s lap if there’s a slightest bit of turbulence. She has real, real anxiety flying and this is overcoming a wall of fear, a barrier.”

Throughout the flight, excited reactions and yelps could be heard from the crew over the live stream’s audio feed. King said that one of the most special moments during the flight was when Perry sang a few lines of “What a Wonderful World.”

“I’ve covered that song in the past, and obviously my higher self is always steering the ship,” Perry said post-flight. “I had no clue that one day I would decide to sing a little bit of that in space, but I think that it’s not about me. It’s not about singing my songs. It’s about a collective energy in there. It’s about us. It’s about making space for future women and taking up space and belonging.” 

While there are no set prices available to the public, you can reserve a spot on Blue Origin’s website for $150,000. To learn more visit blueorigin.com.