Blue Origin launched an all-female crew with Katy Perry and Lauren Sánchez into space—what does that really prove?

Pop star Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez, a former journalist who is Jeff Bezos’s fiancé, were among six women who traveled aboard Blue Origin’s all-female, celebrity-studded, suborbital space mission on Monday morning. This marks the New Shepard’s 11th crewed trip from Blue Origin, the private space company founded by Amazon CEO and billionaire Jeff Bezos. Some critics have called it a publicity stunt for space tourism, or even just an ad for the Amazon founder’s company. King herself expressed some concern about that, telling CBS that she has questioned some of Bezos’s “troubling” decisions. Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, has been criticized for his allegiance to President Donald Trump and for his recent decision to overhaul the Washington Post‘s Opinion page, which critics say undermines the newspaper’s editorial independence. Others question whether the 11-minute ride to the “edge of space,” about 62 miles above sea level past the Kármán line, makes the passengers true astronauts, as the flights are suborbital, meaning they don’t achieve full orbital velocity and the distance is limited. The liftoff took place at 9:30 a.m. ET from Blue Origin’s launch site in Van Horn, Texas. Also aboard: Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist; Amanda Nguyen, a bioastronautics research scientist and the first Vietnamese woman to travel to space; and Kerianne Flynn, a film producer. This marks the New Shepard’s 11th crewed trip to space, and the first all-women crew to enter space since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission in 1963. Women make up only about 15% of all those who have traveled to space. However, despite that effort toward equality, critics have argued space tourism has become a playground for billionaires like Bezos—and rivals Richard Branson, who owns Virgin Galactic, and Elon Musk, who owns SpaceX—that only the ultra-wealthy can afford. And as the New York Times reported, “If the flight proves anything, it is that women are now free to enjoy capitalism’s most decadent spoils alongside the world’s wealthiest men.” It’s also worth noting that critics say space tourism clearly isn’t viable for most of us. While Blue Origin did not publicly release the price of tickets for Monday’s flights, Virgin Galactic has advertised ticket sales for between $250,000 and $450,000, according to CNN. (A Blue Origin spokesman told the news network some passengers flew free of charge.) Fast Company has reached out to Blue Origin for comment on the criticism around space tourism. This isn’t the first time Blue Origin has flown a celebrity to the edge of space: Since 2021, 52 people have boarded its space flights, including Star Trek actor William Shatner. Meanwhile, Blue Origin has also sued SpaceX over billions of dollars in government funding, as some have argued that SpaceX founder Musk is trying to create a monopoly in the private space industry.

Apr 14, 2025 - 21:28

Blue Origin launched an all-female crew with Katy Perry and Lauren Sánchez into space—what does that really prove?

Pop star Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez, a former journalist who is Jeff Bezos’s fiancé, were among six women who traveled aboard Blue Origin’s all-female, celebrity-studded, suborbital space mission on Monday morning.

This marks the New Shepard’s 11th crewed trip from Blue Origin, the private space company founded by Amazon CEO and billionaire Jeff Bezos.

Some critics have called it a publicity stunt for space tourism, or even just an ad for the Amazon founder’s company. King herself expressed some concern about that, telling CBS that she has questioned some of Bezos’s “troubling” decisions. Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, has been criticized for his allegiance to President Donald Trump and for his recent decision to overhaul the Washington Post‘s Opinion page, which critics say undermines the newspaper’s editorial independence.

Others question whether the 11-minute ride to the “edge of space,” about 62 miles above sea level past the Kármán line, makes the passengers true astronauts, as the flights are suborbital, meaning they don’t achieve full orbital velocity and the distance is limited.

The liftoff took place at 9:30 a.m. ET from Blue Origin’s launch site in Van Horn, Texas. Also aboard: Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist; Amanda Nguyen, a bioastronautics research scientist and the first Vietnamese woman to travel to space; and Kerianne Flynn, a film producer.

This marks the New Shepard’s 11th crewed trip to space, and the first all-women crew to enter space since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission in 1963. Women make up only about 15% of all those who have traveled to space.

However, despite that effort toward equality, critics have argued space tourism has become a playground for billionaires like Bezos—and rivals Richard Branson, who owns Virgin Galactic, and Elon Musk, who owns SpaceX—that only the ultra-wealthy can afford. And as the New York Times reported, “If the flight proves anything, it is that women are now free to enjoy capitalism’s most decadent spoils alongside the world’s wealthiest men.”

It’s also worth noting that critics say space tourism clearly isn’t viable for most of us. While Blue Origin did not publicly release the price of tickets for Monday’s flights, Virgin Galactic has advertised ticket sales for between $250,000 and $450,000, according to CNN. (A Blue Origin spokesman told the news network some passengers flew free of charge.)

Fast Company has reached out to Blue Origin for comment on the criticism around space tourism.

This isn’t the first time Blue Origin has flown a celebrity to the edge of space: Since 2021, 52 people have boarded its space flights, including Star Trek actor William Shatner.

Meanwhile, Blue Origin has also sued SpaceX over billions of dollars in government funding, as some have argued that SpaceX founder Musk is trying to create a monopoly in the private space industry.