Blue Origin's NS-31 will feature an all-female crew (Credit: Blue Origin/ CC-BY-SA-2.0)

Blue Origin's 11th human spaceflight, NS-31, will launch with an all-female crew on April 14, 2025. This will be the first all-female crewed mission since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova's historic solo flight in 1963. She was the first woman in space.

Among the six passengers are American pop star Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, and former NASA aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe. Lauren Sánchez, a licensed pilot and partner of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, will lead the mission.

The New Shepard rocket will launch from West Texas on April 14, 2025 (Credit: Blue Origin/ CC-BY-SA-2.0)

The crew will depart from West Texas on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket around 8:30 am CDT. Designed for suborbital space tourism, New Shepard's crew capsule features large windows to maximize the viewing experience. The vehicle operates autonomously, requiring no pilot.

The spacecraft will ascend to an altitude of 62 miles (100 km), crossing the Kármán line. This is the internationally recognized boundary of space. The crew will unbuckle to experience about four minutes of weightlessness while taking in stunning views of Earth. The rocket will then begin its descent to Earth. It will land vertically on a designated pad 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the launch site. The entire flight from launch to landing will last approximately 11 minutes.

Each crew member will get a special mission patch (Credit: Blue Origin/ CC-BY-SA-2.0)

Upon return, each crew member will receive a mission patch with customized symbols to commemorate the event. For instance, Perry's patch will feature a firework symbolizing her global influence on music and pop culture. King’s will showcase a microphone shaped like a shooting star. It represents her commitment to sharing important news stories with the world.

This mission is part of Blue Origin’s broader push to advance space tourism. The New Shepard program has already carried 52 people past the boundary of space. Previous notable passengers include Jeff Bezos, Star Trek actor William Shatner, and Laura Shepard Churchley. She is the daughter of Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

Resources: Blueorigin.com, BBC.com, CNN.com