Kent-based Blue Origin plans all-female spaceflight

Kent-based Blue Origin will fly an all-female crew, including singer Katy Perry, into space on its next New Shepard flight this spring.

Blue Origin announced the crew Thursday, Feb. 27 that also includes Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Gayle King, Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sánchez, who brought the mission together. Sanchez is engaged to Jeff Bezos, the owner of Blue Origin, which opened in 2000 in Kent. He also owns Amazon and the Washington Post.

“She (Sanchez) is honored to lead a team of explorers on a mission that will challenge their perspectives of Earth, empower them to share their own stories, and create lasting impact that will inspire generations to come,” according to a Feb. 27 email from Blue Origin.

The company charges people to be part of the crew and does not reveal its prices. Some crew members are sponsored by others. Blue Origin completed its 10th human spaceflight Feb. 25. It has flown 52 people into space.

Blue Origin did not release a flight date for the all-female crew, but said it would be this spring. The flight takes about 10 or 11 minutes and goes above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.

It will be the first all-female flight crew since Russian Valentina Tereshkova’s solo spaceflight in 1963.

Perry posted about the announcement on Facebook.

“If you had told me that I would be part of the first ever all-female crew in space, I would have believed you,” Perry said in a Facebook post. ”Nothing was beyond my imagination as a child. Although we didn’t grow up with much, I never stopped looking at the world with hopeful wonder! I work hard to live my life that way still, and I am motivated more than ever to be an example for my daughter that women should take up space (pun intended). That’s why this opportunity is so incredible — so that I can show all of the youngest & most vulnerable among us to reach for the stars, literally and figuratively. I am honored to be among this diverse group of celestial sisters.”

The crew

• Aisha Bowe

Bowe is a former NASA rocket scientist, entrepreneur, and global STEM advocate. She is the CEO of STEMBoard, an engineering firm recognized twice on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies, and the founder of LINGO, an edtech company on a mission to equip one million students with essential tech skills. Of Bahamian heritage, she hopes her journey from community college to space will inspire young people in the Bahamas and around the world to pursue their dreams.

• Amanda Nguyen

Nguyen is a bioastronautics research scientist. She graduated from Harvard, and conducted research at Harvard Center for Astrophysics, MIT, NASA, and International Institute for Astronautical Sciences. She worked on the last NASA shuttle mission, STS-135, and the Kepler exoplanet mission. For her advocacy for sexual violence survivors, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and awarded TIME’s Woman of the Year. As the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman astronaut, her flight is a symbol of reconciliation between the United States and Vietnam, and will highlight science as a tool for peace.

• Gayle King

King is an award-winning journalist, co-host of CBS Mornings, editor-at-large of Oprah Daily, and the host of Gayle King in the House on SiriusXM radio. In a career spanning decades, King has been recognized as a gifted, compassionate interviewer able to break through the noise and create meaningful conversations. As someone who is staying open to new adventures, even ones that scare her, she said she is honored to be part of Blue Origin’s first all-female flight team and is looking forward to stepping out of her comfort zone.

• Katy Perry

Perry is the biggest-selling female artist in Capitol Records’ history and one of the best-selling music artists of all time with over 115 billion streams. Aside from being a global pop superstar, she is an active advocate of many philanthropic causes, including as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador where she uses her powerful voice to ensure every child’s right to health, education, equality, and protection, and her own Firework Foundation, which empowers children from underserved communities by igniting their inner light through the arts. She is honored to be a part of Blue Origin’s first all-female crew and hopes her journey encourages her daughter and others to reach for the stars, literally and figuratively.

• Kerianne Flynn

After a successful career in fashion and human resources, Flynn has spent the last decade channeling her energy into community-building through board service and nonprofit work with The Allen-Stevenson School, The High Line, and Hudson River Park. Passionate about the transformative power of storytelling, Kerianne has produced thought-provoking films such as “This Changes Everything” (2018), which explores the history of women in Hollywood, and “LILLY” (2024), a powerful tribute to fair-pay advocate Lilly Ledbetter. Kerianne has always been drawn to exploration, adventure, and space, and hopes her Blue Origin space flight serves as an inspiration for her son, Dex, and the next generation of dreamers to reach for the stars.

• Lauren Sánchez

Sanchez is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, New York Times bestselling author, pilot, vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, and mother of three. In 2016, Sánchez, a licensed helicopter pilot, founded Black Ops Aviation, the first female-owned and operated aerial film and production company. Sánchez released her New York Times bestselling debut children’s book, “The Fly Who Flew to Space,” in 2024. Her work in aviation earned her the Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award in 2024 for her expertise as a helicopter pilot and aviation businesswoman. Sánchez’s goal is to inspire the next generation of explorers.