Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Highlights: Katy Perry sang ‘What a Wonderful World’ during space flight

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Families and friends of the all-female flight crew accompanied Katy Perry, Aishe Bowe, Lauren Sanchez, Gayle King, Kerianne Flynn and Amanda Nguyen as they headed towards the launch site.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Lauren Sanchez in an interview aired an hour before the launch of the NS-31 space flight mission, said that she was inspired to go to space after she saw Jeff Bezos “became more grounded,” after his trip in 2021.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Blue Origin's founder, Jeff Bezos, showed his support for Monday's launch of the NS-31 mission, posting "I love this crew!" on X early this morning.

He also shared a video of the all-female flight crew, who will be launched into space today.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: “My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral,” said William Shatner in 2022 in his book Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder.

The Star Trek actor was one of the first to go to space in a commercial mission, however he stated that the “vicious coldness” of space filled him with sadness as he was reminded of Earth's warmth and how humans were destroying it.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Leaving behind regular spacesuits, the all-female flight mission of the Blue Mission New Shepard - 31 have opted for jewel-toned, figure-hugging spacesuits designed by the powerhouse duo Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim, the co-founders of Monse, and also the creative directors at luxury fashion brand Oscar de la Renta.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, NS-31, will launch the crew members of its mission toward space at more than three times the speed of sound.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Only 14% of people who have gone to space so far have been women, making Blue-Origin's all-female space flight even more historic.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Blue Origin has already flown 30 missions, and 10 of them have carried as many as 52 people to the edge of space. The spacecraft's first crewed flight, NS-16, had Jeff Bozos as a passenger in 2021.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Katy Perry, who will be on board the NS-31 going into space today, has an estimated net worth of $400 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Perry has been among the highest-paid performers in the world for more than ten years and will be one of the richest people to venture into space.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Lasting around 10 minutes, the NS-31 Blue Origin space mission with an all-female flight crew will allow the passengers to unbuckle and float in zero gravity for a brief period.

The flight will bring the passengers beyond the Karman line -- the internationally recognized boundary of space.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Although Blue Origin has not released full ticket prices, a $150,000 deposit is required to reserve a seat, as per the BBC, underlining the exclusivity of these early flights.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Actress Olivia Munn criticised the Blue Origin all-female space mission set to launch today with Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez, and other notable women, stating that it was unnecessary.

"I'm not sure what they're doing up there," Munn said while guest co-hosting 'Today With Jenna & Friends.'

"There are so many other things that are important in the world right now. It's a lot of money to go to space, and there are people who can't even afford basic necessities," she said, as per E! News.

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Katy Perry who is going to space in all-female flight crew aboard Blue Origin's NS-31 said on Sunday, “I was listening to Cosmos' by Carl Sagan and reading a book on string theory. I've always been interested in astrophysics and interested in astronomy and astrology and the stars.”

The popstar said she was ‘psychologically’ preparing herself for the historic feat by reading up on space, and channeling her “feminine divine energy.”

Blue Origin NS-31 Launch Live: Jeff Bezos' fiance Lauren Sanchez worked with fashion designers to redo the look for the all-female flight crew of the NS-31to ensure it brings spice to space" reported Fox News.

Sanchez will also be aboard the Blue Origin mission, set to take off, today.

Jeff Bezos-led Blue Origin is set to launch a star-studded all-woman crew on its New Shepard rocket on a suborbital flight to the edge of space. The mission, NS-31, is scheduled to lift off on April 14 from the company's launch pad in Van Horn, Texas.

Bezos' Blue Origin is targeting 9:30 AM EDT as lift-off time. However, there could be delays due to weather, issues with hardware or launch infrastructure.

The temperature is expected to be around 70–80°F at launch time, according to AccuWeather. It will be a ‘Mostly cloudy and warm; breezy in the afternoon’. Additionally, the cloud cover is expected to be at 89 per cent. There is almost no chance of rain.

Visibility will also be clear, with no significant fog or haze expected, ensuring good ground and air visibility.

The patch for the Blue Origin New Shepard NS-31 flight carries a meaning for each of the symbols on it.

- The target star is for Aisha Bowe's ambition for setting big goals, passion for STEM and commitment to inspire future generations.

- The scales of justice symbolise Amanda Nguyễn’s efforts to advocate for civil rights, break barriers, and empower everyday people to create change.

- For Gayle King's commitment to sharing important stories with the world, the shooting star microphone is the symbol on the NS-31 patch.

- The firework on the patch symbolises Katy Perry's global influence across music, pop culture, and philanthropy.

- The film reel is for Kerianne Flynn's passion for filmmaking, storytelling, and crafting beautiful narratives.

- Flynn the Fly, the main character in Lauren Sánchez’s bestselling children’s book, The Fly Who Flew to Space, is along for the ride.

The New Shepard is named after the first American in space, Alan Shepard. The spaceflight is Blue Origin's fully reusable, suborbital rocket system, built for human flight from the beginning.

It has a pressurised crew capsule, with room for six people and a window seat for each one of them. It will be environmentally controlled for comfort and will be among the largest windows to have flown into space.

New Shepard's drag brakes are deployed from the ring fin to reduce the booster's speech by half on its descent from space. Its BE-3PM engine propels the rocket to space and restarts to uniquely slow the booster down to just 6 mph for a controlled pin-pointed landing.

Its aft fins stabilize the vehicle during its ascent, steering it back to the landing pad when its on its way back. It will guide the rocket through airspeeds over March 3. The flight's landing gear will also be deployed during landing.

Ahead of her space flight, along with five other women, singer Katy Perry posted on Instagram to express excitement over the Blue Origin NS-31 trip and said, "I think I'm gonna sing, I've got to sing in space!"

A day ago, she wrote on her post, "I've dreamed of going to space for 15 years and tomorrow that dream becomes a reality.....I am SO honoured to be alongside 5 other incredible and inspiring women as we become the first ever all female flight space crew!

People can livestream the Blue Origin New Shepard-31 flight's launch from the Launch Site One in West Texas on the space company's website, YouTube channel, and X handle. The coverage will begin at April 14, 7 am CDT/5:30 pm IST (April 15).

Having had a successful career in fashion and human resources, Kerianne Flynn has spent the last decade channeling her energy into community-building through board service and non-profit work with the Allen-Stevenson School, The High Line, and Hudson River Park. She also is passionate about the transformative power of story telling and has produced thought-provoking films such as This Changes Everything (2018), a movie which explores the history of women in Hollywood.

Kerianne was always drawn to exploration, space and hopes that her Blue Origin flight will serve as an inspiration for her son, Dex, and the next generation of dreamers.

Gayle King is an award-winning journalist, co-host of CBS Mornings, editor-at-large of Oprah Daily, and the host of Gayle King in the House on SiriusXM radio.

She has been recognized as a gifted, compassionate interviewer able to break through the noise, creating meaningful conversations along the way.

She stays open to new adventures, even the ones that scare her.

Amanda Nguyễn is a bioastronautics research scientist who graduated from Harvard and conducted research at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics, MIT, NASA, and International Institute for Astronautical Sciences.

She also worked on the last NASA shuttle mission, STS-135, and the Kepler exoplanet mission. For Amanda's advocacy for sexual violence survivors, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and awarded TIME's Woman of the Year.

She will be the first Vietnamese and Southeast Asian woman astronaut in space. Her flight is a symbol of US and Vietnam's reconciliation.

A former NASA rocket scientist, entrepreneur and global STEM advocate, Aisha Bowe is the CEO of STEMBoard, an engineering firm twice named to the Inc. 5000 list. She is also the founder of LINGO, an edtech company aiming to equip one million students with essential tech skills.

This trip will make Aisha the first person of Bahamian descent to visit space. She will also carry postcards from students around the world to space and conduct three experiments, including studies on plant biology and human physiology -- taking forward her mission to explore space for the benefit of Earth.

Lauren Sánchez, fiancée of Blue Origin's owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is also set to blast off to space abord New Shepard-31.

Sánchez is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, New York Times best-selling author, pilot, Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, and a mother of three.

A licensed helicopter pilot, Sánchez founded Black Ops Aviation, a first female-owned and operation aerial film and production company, in 2016.

She also released her NY Times bestselling debut, children's book The Fly Who Flew to Space, in 2024.

She has won the Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award in 2024 for her work in aviation.

Pop star Katy Perry is all set to tough the edge of space on Monday, roaring into the cosmos on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin's New Shepard-31 human flight.

She is one of the biggest-selling female artists in Capitol Records' history, and one of the best-selling music artists of all time with over 115 billion streams.

Perry has also been an active advocate of several philanthropic causes, including as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador where she uses her powerful voice to ensure every child's right to health, education, equality, and protection, and her own Firework Foundation, which empowers children from underserved communities by igniting their inner light through the arts.