Sky's No Limit: New Shepard's All-Female Crew Redefines Space Travel

In a historic moment for both commercial spaceflight and gender representation, Blue Origin successfully launched and landed its New Shepard rocket on April 14, 2025. It carried an all-female crew into space. The flight, labeled as NS-31, lasted just over 11 minutes, taking its six passengers to the edge of space and returning them safely to Earth.

The launch took place from Blue Origin’s private launch facility known as Launch Site One, located in the West Texas desert near Van Horn. At 9:30 AM Eastern Time, the fully autonomous New Shepard rocket lifted off in clear skies, marking the 31st successful mission in the New Shepard program.

This mission was especially historic because of the composition of the crew — six women from diverse backgrounds, many of them were flying to space for the first time. Among them was Katy Perry, world-renowned pop star and cultural icon; Gayle King, prominent journalist and television anchor; and Lauren Sánchez, media personality and fiancée of Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. They were joined by Amanda Nguyen, a civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee; Aisha Bowe, an aerospace engineer and former NASA contractor; and Kerianne Flynn, a film producer.

For many, the flight symbolized progress — not just in terms of technology and commercial space tourism, but in gender inclusion. While women have flown to space for decades, an all-female commercial crew had never flown together before on a private suborbital spacecraft.

The New Shepard rocket, named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard (the first American in space), is a suborbital launch vehicle designed for brief but intense experiences beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Once launched, the rocket carried the capsule to an altitude slightly above 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) — the internationally recognized boundary of space, also known as the Kármán line.

Upon reaching peak altitude, the capsule separated from the booster and hovered briefly in the space. During this time, the passengers were free to unbuckle, float inside the cabin, and observe the curvature of the Earth against the blackness of space through large panoramic windows of the capsule.

The total weightless experience lasted about four minutes, after which the capsule began its controlled descent back to Earth.

Blue Origin’s system is fully autonomous, requiring no pilots. After separation, both the booster and the crew capsule followed independent trajectories. The booster made a powered vertical landing on a nearby landing pad, using its BE-3 engine to slow down and touch down smoothly, while the capsule deployed its parachutes, slowing its descent before it softly touched down in the desert.

Ground recovery teams quickly reached the capsule, where the crew emerged smiling and exhilarated, waving to cameras and exchanging hugs.

The flight was widely celebrated on social media and in news outlets as a symbol of progress. For many, the idea of six women — including artists, engineers, and activists — experiencing space together was more than a publicity event; it was a moment of inspiration.

Aisha Bowe, a vocal advocate for women in STEM, remarked afterward that the experience was "not just a dream come true for me, but a signal to young girls everywhere that there’s a place for them in the stars."

Jeff Bezos also made a public statement, calling the mission a "celebration of human potential" and praising the team for "proving that space is for everyone."

Blue Origin plans to continue developing its commercial space tourism program, and NS-31 is likely to be remembered as a turning point — both technically and culturally. The success of the all-female mission adds momentum to the idea that space travel can be inclusive, safe, and accessible beyond the boundaries of government space agencies.