Katy Perry Set To Be First Pop Star In Space As She Joins Blue Origin Trip

Sanchez reportedly played a key role in assembling the team of women who will accompany her on the historic trip.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard first launched in 2021, with the company’s founder, Jeff Bezos, describing the feeling of weightlessness in space as a return “to the womb.”

Pop superstar Perry will join “CBS This Morning” anchor King, Philanthropist Sanchez, and others to embark on a groundbreaking space mission.

The all-female crew, assembled by Blue Origin, was announced on Thursday, though an official launch date has yet to be confirmed.

Sanchez, Bezos’s fiancée, played a pivotal role in bringing the team together for what has been described as an “empowering mission.”

“Katy 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,” a statement read, per Metro UK.

Regarding Sanchez, the statement also noted that she “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.”

King, who revealed the news on “CBS This Morning,” expressed excitement and nervousness about the upcoming flight.

“I don’t know how to explain being terrified and excited at the same time. It’s like how I felt about to deliver a baby,” she said.

Having celebrated her 70th birthday in December, King explained that she’s embracing new challenges.

“I thought I wanted to open myself up to new adventures and step out of my comfort zone,” King noted, per The U.S. Sun.

Joining Perry, Sanchez, and King on the Blue Origin mission will be film producer Kerianne Flynn, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe.

This launch will mark the 11th human flight for Blue Origin’s New Shepard program.

Before committing to the mission, King revealed that she sought advice from her children and longtime friend Oprah Winfrey.

“Once Kirby, Will, and Oprah was fine with it, I was fine,” she shared. “I thought Oprah would say, no, no. She said, ‘I think if you don’t do it, when they all come back and you had the opportunity to do it, you will be kicking yourself.’ She’s right.”

King revealed she was initially hesitant when approached in November, admitting that space travel had never been part of her plans.

“This was never my dream,” she said. “And somebody said, maybe you need to have new dreams.”

Reflecting on her fellow crewmates, King praised the all-female team.

“These women are so bada-s,” the news anchor said. “They have such amazing life stories. I feel well prepared. I believe in Blue Origin, what they’re doing. I am really excited and actually looking forward to it.”

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket made its historic first spaceflight in December 2021. Since then, the company has successfully completed nine additional human missions, taking travelers to the very edge of space.

Bezos was one of the program’s first passengers, joined by his younger brother, Mark Bezos, who is a private equity executive and volunteer firefighter.

During their brief but transformative journey, the crew experienced about three minutes of weightlessness before gravity pulled them back to Earth.

Bezos later described the sensation of zero gravity as unexpectedly familiar. “I’ll tell you something very interesting: zero gravity feels very natural. I don’t know if it’s because it’s like a return to the womb,” he shared in a podcast interview.

He also spoke about the “overview effect,” a profound emotional response astronauts often experience when viewing Earth from space.

“You see just how the Earth is,” he reflected. “If you’re not an environmentalist, it will make you one.”

However, not all Blue Origin passengers have shared the same sense of wonder and exhilaration.

In a later flight, “Star Trek” actor William Shatner embarked on a journey aboard New Shepard, only to find the experience unexpectedly unsettling.

In his memoir, Shatner described his trip to space as a dark and sorrowful experience, likening it to a “funeral.”

“I felt the strongest feelings of grief,” he wrote, recalling the overwhelming emotions that washed over him during the flight.

Shatner continued: “I love the mystery of the universe. All of that has thrilled me for years…but when I looked in the opposite direction, into space, there was no mystery, no majestic awe to behold…all I saw was death.”

Shatner shared that his journey ultimately left him with a newfound appreciation for Earth.

“I had a different experience because I discovered that the beauty isn’t out there, it’s down here, with all of us,” he reflected. “Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound.”