All-female rocket flight returns safely after space trip of 11 minutes

In a historic moment, an all-female crew comprising six women traveled 100 km (62 miles) above Earth aboard a Blue Origin rocket, marking the first such flight in over six decades. 

The suborbital journey, organised by Blue Origin, the private aerospace company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, launched from West Texas on Monday at 8:30 am local time.

A video of the journey shared by Blue Origin on X showed the six women aboard the New Shepard capsule experiencing weightlessness and marveling at the view of Earth from space.

The star-studded flight included Lauren Sanchez, journalist and fiancee of Jeff Bezos, Gayle King, CBS News host, Aisha Bowe, former NASA rocket scientist, Amanda Nguyen, civil rights activist, Kerianne Flynn, film producer, Katy Perry, Grammy-nominated pop star.

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The flight lasted just under 11 minutes, with the capsule spending approximately four minutes in space before returning safely to Earth. Cameras captured emotional moments as the women floated inside the capsule, gazing at Earth from above.

“Earth looked just so quiet,” Sanchez remarked during a post-flight interview.

Katy Perry, who sang What a Wonderful World while aboard, expressed her awe of the experience. Upon landing, she kissed the ground, a moment that quickly went viral on social media.

“It is the highest high, and it’s about surrendering to the unknown,” she said. “I couldn’t recommend this experience more.”

The flight comes 64 years after Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963, staying in orbit for three days.

While the trip drew fascination and praise, it also attracted criticism. Critics questioned the environmental impact, lack of scientific benefit, and the extravagance associated with space tourism.

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“This wasn’t a mission. It was a brief, 15-minute publicity stunt,” one X user wrote. “They’re passengers, not crew. They had no control of the ship.”

Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski also weighed in, criticising the expense and environmental toll.

“That space mission this morning—that’s a big show,” she said. “You say you care about Mother Earth, but you’re flying in a ship built by a company that’s contributing to the planet’s destruction. Look at the state of the world and think about how much money was spent... for what?”