Blue Origin Launches Celebrities Katy Perry, Gayle King Into Space From West Texas

Katy Perry, Gayle King Launch On Blue Origin Rocket

Singer Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King and four other women expressed delight and awe as they launched into space Monday from West Texas, aboard a rocket built by Blue Origin.

They were heard on a live feed exclaiming "The moon! The pink moon!" and making other observations about what they were seeing out the space capsule's windows during the 10-minute flight that soared to over 340,000 feet, or about 62 miles. That took the women just above the line considered to be the edge of space.

Perry kissed the ground as she exited the New Shepherd capsule. She was holding a daisy, in honor of her 4-year-old daughter named after the flower.

“I feel super connected to love," Perry said a few minutes later. "So connected to love."

King made a similar gesture.

"I just need a moment to appreciate the ground," she said.

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King also talked about how the flight was a huge leap for her personally.

Blue Origin is owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos. The rest of the all-female crew included Bezos' fiance Lauren Sanchez; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA engineer who later started companies to promote science education; Amanda Nguyen, a scientist and advocate for survivors of sexual violence; and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

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They couldn't have picked a better day for liftoff.

"Weather conditions around launch time this morning were perfect, with clear skies, winds between 5 to 10 mph and temperatures in the 60s," weather.com senior meteorologist Chris Dolce.

Blue Origin has been taking celebrities, scientists and other civilians to space since 2021.

This particular mission also made history. It was the first all-woman crew ever launched from the U.S.

Weather.com senior writer Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.