This spring, Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft will make history with its first-ever all-woman crew, featuring a diverse group of trailblazers, including celebrities, scientists, and advocates. The mission, dubbed NS-31, will launch from the West Texas desert, carrying an extraordinary team: Gayle King, Katy Perry, Aisha Bowe, Lauren Sánchez, Amanda Nguyen, and Kerianne Flynn. This groundbreaking flight marks the first all-woman space mission since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo journey in 1963.
Get this: The not-so-long but impactful 11-minute flight will soar past the Kármán line—the internationally recognized boundary of space—offering the crew breathtaking views of Earth through the capsule’s expansive windows and a few minutes of weightlessness. Blue Origin emphasized that the New Shepard is fully autonomous, meaning every passenger is an equal crew member with no designated pilots.
“This flight will undoubtedly prove to be a life-changing experience for each of us, and I’m honored to be with such an incredible group of explorers,” said Lauren Sánchez, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, pilot, and vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund. “Most importantly, I am looking forward to all the women in this crew sharing their story and inspiring future generations to dream big.”
The diverse crew represents a wide range of achievements and backgrounds. Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist and CEO of STEMBoard, shared her excitement: “Every step of my journey, from community college to NASA, entrepreneurship, and now space, has been about showing that no dream is out of reach. Flying alongside these remarkable women, we are expanding the art of the possible.”
Here’s who’s lucky enough to ride up to space:
Amanda Nguyen, a bioastronautics research scientist and the first Vietnamese woman to go to space, said, “I’m flying for Vietnamese girls to see themselves in the stars.” A Harvard graduate, Nguyen has researched at NASA, MIT, and the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences.
Gayle King, renowned journalist and co-host of CBS Mornings, expressed her enthusiasm for the adventure: “To take on a new adventure at this point in my life is exciting to me, especially with this group of fantastic women.”
Pop icon Katy Perry, one of the best-selling music artists of all time, reflected on the significance of the mission: “If you had told me that I would be part of the first-ever all-female crew in space, I would have believed you. Nothing was beyond my imagination as a child.”
Kerianne Flynn, a nonprofit leader and film producer, highlighted the mission’s broader impact: “Hopefully, myself and other future astronauts can use this experience to motivate the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators about the importance of taking care of our planet and living on it as one human race.”
The New Shepard program, named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space, has flown 52 people above the Kármán line. This mission, the 11th human flight for New Shepard, underscores Blue Origin’s growing role in the commercial space industry, competing with companies like SpaceX.
As the all-woman crew prepares for their historic journey, their collective message is clear: this mission is not just about reaching space but about breaking barriers, inspiring future generations, and proving that the sky is no longer the limit.