Pop sensation Katy Perry did more than just float above the Earth on Monday’s record-breaking Blue Origin flight—she sang her heart out as the capsule descended back to solid ground, belting out a moving rendition of What a Wonderful World that left fellow passengers misty-eyed.
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Perry, 40, was part of a landmark crew of six women who boarded Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard rocket in West Texas for an 11-minute suborbital journey that would take them more than 100km above Earth—crossing the Kármán line, the internationally recognised boundary of space.
Alongside Perry were journalist Gayle King, civil rights campaigner Amanda Nguyen, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and pilot-turned-philanthropist Lauren Sánchez, who is also Bezos’ fiancée.
@gmanews Pop star Katy Perry and five other women floated in space on a Blue Origin rocket and successfully returned to Earth on Monday (April 14), marking the first all-female spaceflight in more than 60 years. Katy was in space with an award-winning journalist, a bestselling author, a NASA rocket scientist, a filmmaker, and a founder of a campaign group against sexual violence. 📷: Blue Origin via Reuters #GMAIntegratedNews #BreakingNewsPH #KatyPerry ♬ original sound – GMA News
A song for the stars
The capsule offered only minutes of weightlessness before descending under parachute to the desert floor. As Earth came back into view through the capsule windows, Katy Perry surprised the group by singing Louis Armstrong’s classic ballad—an instinctive gesture she later said was about more than music.
“I’ve covered that song before,” she told Charissa Thompson on the Blue Origin webcast. “But in that moment, I felt like it wasn’t about me. It was about us. About making space for future women—literally and symbolically—and appreciating this beautiful world from a whole new vantage point.”
King later described the moment as a standout from the flight, calling it “breathtaking in every sense”.
From take-off to touchdown
The rocket lifted off just after 08:30 local time (14:30 BST), launching vertically before the capsule separated and continued into space. Once above the Kármán line, the crew experienced a few weightless minutes—laughing, floating, and gazing out at the planet below—before gravity gently pulled them back.
@gmanews Pop star Katy Perry and five other women floated in space on a Blue Origin rocket and successfully returned to Earth on Monday (April 14), marking the first all-female spaceflight in more than 60 years. Katy was in space with an award-winning journalist, a bestselling author, a NASA rocket scientist, a filmmaker, and a founder of a campaign group against sexual violence. 📷: Blue Origin via Reuters #GMAIntegratedNews #BreakingNewsPH #KatyPerry ♬ original sound – GMA News
The booster and capsule both made controlled landings in the desert, met by cheering recovery teams. Bezos himself opened the hatch, greeting the women as they emerged.
Sánchez, the first to exit, was tearful: “Earth looked so quiet. It was quiet but really alive,” she said. “I looked at it and thought—we’re all in this together.”
Perry was next, kissing the ground and lifting a daisy skyward. The flower was a tribute to her daughter, Daisy Dove, who had watched the launch with Perry’s fiancé, actor Orlando Bloom.
“Daisies are resilient,” she later explained. “They grow through cracks, through walls—they’re everywhere. It was symbolic of what this flight means to me, and to my daughter.”
@dailymail Katy Perry held a daisy up to the sky in honor of her daughter Daisy, and kissed the ground after landing back on Earth after the all-female Blue Origin space launch. 🎥 Reuters #news #space #astronaut #katyperry #jeffbezos ♬ original sound – Daily Mail
Gayle King, who is known for her fear of flying, also kissed the ground. “I just needed a moment with the Earth,” she said.
The last to emerge, Flynn, pointed upward and shouted, “I went to space!”
More than just a celebrity joyride
This was the first all-female crewed flight since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission in 1963—and the first of its kind for Blue Origin. With a capsule designed to be fully autonomous and a team of engineers and safety officers known as Crew Member Seven guiding the mission, the six passengers were able to focus entirely on the experience.
Not everyone celebrated the flight. Critics questioned the value of celebrity space tourism, with some dubbing it “the Real Housewives of Space” and others highlighting the vast cost of such journeys. Actress Olivia Munn remarked, “There are people who can’t even afford eggs.”
But the crew dismissed the scepticism. “Anyone criticising this clearly doesn’t understand what’s happening here,” said King. “We’ve heard from so many girls who now think space is for them too.”
Nguyen, the first Southeast Asian woman to go to space, said her seat was “not just for me, but for every survivor who’s still fighting”.
Sánchez, too, defended the mission, urging critics to visit Blue Origin’s base and meet the thousands working on future space infrastructure.
While Blue Origin has yet to release exact seat prices, it’s widely known that reservations require a deposit of $150,000—making these flights accessible only to the ultra-wealthy for now. But advocates argue that such missions lay the groundwork for a more inclusive space future.
What comes next?
Perry, still visibly overwhelmed by the experience, promised to write a song about her flight. “Oh, for sure. One hundred per cent,” she said.
More than a publicity stunt, the journey marked a cultural moment: six women—diverse in background, purpose, and profession—shared the sky, the silence, and the wonder of space together. Their mission was brief, but its message resonated far beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.
As Oprah Winfrey said of her friend Gayle King, “This was her overcoming a wall of fear. This was courage in action.”
And as Perry sang to Earth from space, viewers around the world were reminded—despite everything—what a wonderful world it still is.
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Featured Image: Instagram | @katyperry
