Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is preparing for a historic all-female spaceflight, featuring Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez, and Gayle King as part of a six-person crew. The New Shepard NS-31 mission is scheduled for this spring, following the successful launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket last month.
The company unveiled the full crew lineup, which also includes aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and bioastronautics research scientist and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen.
This will mark the 11th human flight for Blue Origin’s New Shepard program. The journey lasts approximately 10 minutes, taking passengers past the edge of space, where they experience a brief period of microgravity before returning to Earth.
Blue Origin has previously flown notable figures such as its founder Jeff Bezos and Canadian actor William Shatner. So far, the New Shepard rocket has carried 52 people into space.
The company recently celebrated another milestone with the first orbital launch of its New Glenn rocket. However, earlier this month, Blue Origin announced a 10% workforce reduction—impacting around 1,400 employees—as it aims to scale up New Glenn manufacturing and increase the frequency of rocket launches, according to CEO Dave Limp.
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