Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched his fiancee Lauren Sanchez to area on Monday (April 14, 2025) with an all-female celebrity crew that included Katy Perry and Gayle King.
It was the newest wave in area tourism, the place extra of the wealthy and well-known than ever earlier than — or fortunate and well-connected — can enter the zero-gravity realm historically dominated by skilled astronauts.
The New Shepard rocket blasted off on the fast up-and-down journey from West Texas. The fringes of area beckoned some 65 miles (105 kilometers) up, promising just a few treasured minutes of weightlessness.
Sanchez, a helicopter pilot and former TV journalist, invited the others alongside for the 10-minute, absolutely automated flight, packing on the star energy with singer-songwriter Perry and “CBS Mornings” co-host King.
Also sharing the experience had been movie producer Kerianne Flynn; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA engineer who began her personal firms to advertise science schooling; and Amanda Nguyen, a scientist who studied planets round different stars and now advocates for survivors of sexual violence.
Blue Origin declined to say how a lot the flight value or who paid what. The journey comes two months earlier than Sanchez and Bezos marry in Venice.
It was the eleventh human spaceflight for the Washington state-based firm, based by Bezos in 2000 after making a fortune with Amazon. Bezos strapped in for Blue Origin’s first area vacationer flight in 2021 and accompanied the newest crew to the pad.
The celebrity launch was the nation’s first spaceflight the place ladies crammed every seat. The solely different all-female crew in 64 years of human spaceflight was again in 1963. That’s when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova launched by herself, changing into the primary girl in area. Tereshkova spent three days off the planet.
Even after the newest launch, ladies signify barely 15% of the greater than 700 individuals who have traveled into area. Sanchez mentioned she intentionally selected ladies to launch with her, every of them wanting to encourage each the younger and outdated to dream huge, and even commissioned particular flight fits.
“It’s an important moment for the future of commercial space travel and for humanity in general and for women all around,” Perry advised The Associated Press final week.
The launch introduced out VIPs to West Texas including Oprah Winfrey and a number of other ladies who beforehand have flown on non-public flights.
This isn’t the primary Blue Origin launch with marquee names.
“Star Trek” actor William Shatner caught a carry to area with Blue Origin in 2021 at age 90, quickly after Bezos’ inaugural journey. He was adopted by former New York Giants defensive finish and TV host Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, for whom the rocket is called. Two aviation pioneers who missed out on area once they had been youthful — Wally Funk and Ed Dwight — additionally rocketed away at ages 82 and 90, respectively.
Most of Blue Origin’s passengers — 58 counting the newest launch — have been enterprise or science varieties, TV hosts or YouTubers. Ticket costs aren’t disclosed.
The Russian Space Agency additionally has launched its share of area vacationers, starting with a California financier in 2001. Two many years later, a Russian actress filmed aboard the International Space Station.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX additionally sells multi-day journeys to non-public clients. SpaceX’s first consumer to fly, billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman already has launched twice and carried out the primary non-public spacewalk. He’s now set to turn out to be NASA’s subsequent administrator if confirmed by the Senate.
Chinese-born bitcoin investor Chun Wang simply returned from the primary spaceflight to hold folks over the north and south poles. Wang picked up the entire SpaceX tab for himself and three polar explorers for an undisclosed sum.
“In this exciting new era of commercial spaceflight, the dream of becoming an astronaut is no longer limited to a select few,” Wang mentioned by way of X final week.
Published – April 14, 2025 07:29 pm IST
