Views: 13
Remember when Olivia Rodrigo said people who go to space are a major red flag?
Well, Katy Perry’s space trip with Blue Origin has officially wrapped.
For the last few months, the Woman’s World singer has told anyone who’ll listen that she’s always dreamed of it. In her April cover story for ELLE US, Perry said earnestly, “But seriously, I have wanted to go to space for almost 20 years. I was investigating all that was possible.”
The end of that investigation? A broligarchy-funded feminist mission to the stars. Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission was an 11-minute suborbital flight courtesy of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos’ fleet of automatic rockets. The guest list was curated by Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez, who masterminded the girlboss getaway of a lifetime.
Now, Katy Perry has completed her brief cosmic jaunt, sung What A Wonderful World 96 kilometres above Earth, and returned to dry land.
When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon he declared, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Katy Perry has finally gone to space, and while it’s a giant leap for the mother, musician, American Idol judge and shoe designer, it remains to be seen how big a step it is for women—or humankind.
What does it all mean?
Celebrity Responses To The Blue Origin NS-31 Mission
While it may have had girl bossy aims the trip has raised the ire of several female celebrities. Olivia Wilde has posted to Instagram stories raising the question we’re all asking: what, if anything, was the Blue Origin trip indented to achieve? Wilde shared a carousel of memes from Instagram account @betches including a photo of Katy Perry kissing the ground accompanied by the words “getting off a commercial flight in 2025 #BlueOrigin.” The meme was alluding to the many aerial disasters the have beset the US in recent months. Wilde wrote over the post “Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess.”
Emily Ratajkowski has now chimed in on a viral TikTok calling the episode: ‘End times shit.” “This is beyond parody, saying you care about mother earth and you’re going up in a spaceship built and paid for by a company that is single handedly destroying the planet? Look at the state of the world and think about how many resources went into putting these women into space… for what? What was the marketing there?”
There’s are not the only perfect brows that have been arched. Earlier this month Olivia Munn also expressed scepticism about the feminist mission. “I know this probably isn’t the cool thing to say, but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now… What are you guys going to do up in space? What are you doing up there? she asked on Today With Jenna and Friends.
“I know this is probably obnoxious, but, like, it’s so much money to go to space, and there’s a lot of people who can’t even afford eggs.” Munn, rapidly becoming a thought leader on the topic continued, wondering whether “all that rocket fuel was good for the environment,” and noting “there are a lot of resources being sent.” A billionaires space trip for millionaire women feels poorly timed, so what was it all about?
What Was The Point Of The Blue Origin NS-31 Mission?
For Perry, the mission presumably held the appeal of generating some fresh headlines that might rinse the taste of her poorly received Woman’s World album out of everyone’s mouths — with, you know, another expensive girlbossy project. But what motivated everyone else to board a flight to space with no pilot?
Sánchez, who masterminded the flight, was allegedly driven by feminist principles. It was the first American spaceflight where women filled every seat. The only other all-female crew in 64 years of human space exploration was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who launched herself into orbit and became the first woman ever to do so.
This was, admittedly, slightly more impressive. Tereshkova underwent years of training and spent three full days in space — at an altitude far greater than the 100km mark that Blue Origin’s flight scraped past (100km being the razor’s edge of what can technically be considered “space travel”). But no matter. Since Tereshkova’s mission, women have made up just shy of 15 per cent of the 700 people who have been to space. Sánchez hoped to address this imbalance by inspiring young women and girls to presumably… become astronauts, or billionaires capable of funding their own space jaunts.
She even had special suits designed for her all-female crew — because women and girls presumably want to make sure they’re sexy in space.
“I think the suits are elegant, but they also bring a little spice to space,” Sánchez told The New York Times.
Given Blue Origin is already offering commercial flights and, alongside competitor Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is moving into full-blown space tourism, we can assume the celebrity-packed trip has offered plenty of promotional opportunities.
What Happened On The Blue Origin NS-31 Mission?
TikTokers were a little concerned after Gayle King, one of the VIPs onboard the mission, appeared to start crying while boarding the flight. Some felt she might be having premonitions.
“I’ll say it… I don’t feel right about this space trip that Katy Perry and Gayle King are going on… something doesn’t feel right about it,” said user Sammy Sparkle. “Obviously I’m not a fan of the fake girlboss feminism of this all-female girlboss billionaire space trip but there’s something… I don’t like it, it’s not feeling right and I think Gayle King feels it too… She’s terrified, she doesn’t want to go. She’s crying on TV saying I don’t want to go! Like, girl, don’t, trust your instincts. Something’s fishy.”
Australian media personality Abbie Chatfield also weighed in: “Did we learn nothing from the last time a bunch of very rich people got into a metal tube?” she wrote, alluding to the deaths of OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet during a submarine mission in 2023.
Despite Chatfield’s concerns — and the internet’s collective bad vibes — the mission went off without a hitch. According to ABC News, the flight lasted 11 minutes, travelling 96km above the Earth and passing the Kármán line, which sits 62 miles above sea level.
Perry had been documenting the lead-up to her trip on TikTok and, while in orbit, “made the most out of her time in space for real” (to quote one TikToker) by holding up a small placard featuring her Woman’s World set list.
Who Were the Women on Board Blue Origin’s NS-31 Mission?
Let’s review the guest list of this intergalactic bachelorette party:
Lauren Sánchez
Lauren Sánchez is a licensed helicopter pilot, Emmy-award winning journalist and vice-chair of Bezos Earth Fund. She’s also Jeff Bezos’ fiancée. Lauren not only flew (figuratively) but curated the flight — yes, like a group holiday chat, but for the cosmos.
Gayle King
Gayle King is a CBS Mornings host, Oprah’s right-hand woman, and the spiritual big sister of the trip. King did, however, get spooked pre-flight, sobbing as she arrived and looking quite miserable. King has now described the Blue Origin flight as helping her conquer her fear of flying.
Amanda Nguyen
A prominent civil rights activist and bioastronautics research scientist who worked on the last NASA space shuttle mission, STS-135, and the United State’s space agency’s exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope.
Aisha Bowe
One of the more qualified people to be on the trip! A former NASA rocket scientist, CEO of engineering firm STEMBoard and founder of LINGO, which teaches students technology skills.
Kerianne Flynn
Kerianne Flynn is a documentary produce who worked on This Changes Everything a 2018 documentary about sexism in Hollywood.
Katy Perry
Pop megastar and unofficial mascot of billionaire-funded girlbossing.
Where To Watch Katy Perry Space Livestream
If you slept through the event, never fear. USA Today’s livestream of the event is available to watch on catchup on Youtube.
What Does It All Mean?
We are yet to see whether this flight will inspire a generation of young girls to go to space, but space flight is certainly a new frontier of commercial tourism for the super rich. Blue Origin’s passengers to date have included TV hosts and YouTubers. Elon Musk’s Space X sells multi-day trips to private customers (ticket prices not disclosed), and its first client, billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, has launched twice, even undertaking a private space walk.
According to NASA, space flights cost between $50 and $400 million USD and emit hundreds of times more carbon soot particles than aeroplanes. The prospect of space tourism is causing some concern for environmental bodies.
The post Katy Perry Finished Her Broligarchy Funded Space Trip, Emrata Has Questions appeared first on ELLE.
