Blue Origin NS-31

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  none Launch date - time  14 April 2025 - 13:30:00 UTC Launch site  Corn Ranch, LS-1 Launch vehicle  New Shepard (NS5-F4) Spacecraft  RSS Karman Line F3 Manufacturer / Operator  Blue Origin Mass (kg)  12519 kg?? Crew   6 Earth flight:   Apogee  107 km Landing date Capsule - time  14 April 2025 - 13:40:21 UTC Landing location  Corn Ranch Mission type  Sub-orbital human spaceflight, Apogee: 107 km Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  10 min, 21 sec

Launched Crew (6 pers.):

Description:

• First all female flight. First all female crew since Valentina Tereshkova in 1963.
• Blue Origin NS-31 was a sub-orbital spaceflight operated by Blue Origin as part of New Shepard, the company's space tourism program. The flight took place on April 14, 2025, and lasted 10 minutes and 21 seconds. The flight carried all female passengers and was organized by journalist Lauren Sánchez, the then-fiancée of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. She was joined by Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn, Gayle King, Amanda Nguyen and Katy Perry.
• NS-31 received widespread media attention for its symbolic significance of being the first all-female spaceflight since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963, making a solo flight on Vostok 6. Overall, the reception to the flight was predominantly negative, with criticism of its messaging and timing.

NS-31 booster lands on the pad, after launch.

NS-31-Lauren Sanchez after capsule-recovery.

Mission details:

• The six-person mission was the eleventh launch of Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin New Shepard space tourism program, which uses remotely piloted launch rockets to take a capsule with passengers into sub-orbital space.[2] The flight was organized by pilot and journalist Lauren Sánchez, Bezos's then-fiancée[3] and later wife,[4] and its passengers were announced on February 27, 2025:[5] Sánchez, NASA aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, pop singer Katy Perry, film producer Kerianne Flynn, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and journalist Gayle King. Nguyen had previously trained to be an astronaut, but shifted towards activism after being sexually assaulted.
• New spacesuits, specifically designed for women, were created by Monse, a fashion house founded by creative directors formerly associated with Oscar de la Renta.[6] NS-31 was the first spaceflight with only female space passengers since the 1963 Vostok 6 solo mission, in which Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.[2][7] Nguyen became the first woman of Vietnamese descent, and Bowe the first Bahamian person, to fly to space
• The flight took off from the Blue Origin Launch Site southeast of El Paso, Texas on April 14, 2025, at 13:30:00 UTC (8:30 am CDT, local time at the launch site).[9] It lasted 10 minutes and 21 seconds, including a few minutes of weightlessness for the passengers on board,[2] and passed the Kármán line, the edge of space.[2] While in flight, Perry sang part of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" and held both a piece of paper with the setlist for her upcoming The Lifetimes Tour and a daisy in tribute to her daughter of that name.
• The spacecraft touched back down safely in a desert around 11 minutes after liftoff, where they were greeted by a ground crew that included Bezos.[11] Among those present at the event were Khloe Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Oprah Winfrey, and Mae Jemison.

External links:

• Wikipedia: Description mission