Katy Perry becomes first pop star to go to space on an all-female flight

Katy Perry has officially made history as the first-ever popstar to travel to space on an all-female flight.

The Dark Horse singer, 40, was among the six passengers on board Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin spacecraft, which took off at 2:30pm UK time from a launch site in the West Texas high desert.

The Firework musician was joined by the Amazon boss’ fiancée, author Lauren Sanchez, as well as TV host and journalist Gayle King, NASA aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, research scientist Amanda Nguyen and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn.

She could be seen in the New Shepard capsule as it pulled away from the gantry at the launch facility, before a countdown from mission control.

Flames then shot out of the bottom of the craft as it successfully launched into the air.

The crew could be heard cheering in the space craft as it reached ‘supersonic’, while mission control could be heard saying it ‘looks good’.

Katy Perry held a daisy up to the sky as she left the rocket ship (Picture: Blue Origin)

She also kissed the ground when she returned to Earth (Picture: Blue Origin)

Katy opened up about her decision to take a daisy on board (Picture: Blue Origin)

The two crafts separated at 28,000ft as they reached space and were able to clearly see the moon.

Jeff was ready to greet the newly-crowned astronauts upon their safe return back to the site, and embraced Lauren as she proudly emerged from the Blue Origin craft.

In the run up to the trip, Katy teased that she would be singing while in space, but kept tight-lipped over her song choice.

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Although it could not be heard in the official audio from the space ship, Gayle confirmed that she chose a very poignant track while up there.

‘When we got back in our seats after zero Gs, Katy sang What A Wonderful World,’ she explained after disembarking.

Gayle King followed suit upon her return (Picture: Blue Origin)

Gayle opened up about the journey (Picture: Blue Origin)

‘We’ve been asking her to sing all the time and she wouldn’t. Everybody said, “sing Roar, sing Firework”.

‘She said, “It’s not about me, I wanted to talk about the world”. Isn’t that nice?’

‘I’ve covered that song in the past, and obviously my higher self is steering the ship because I had no clue that one day I would decide to sing a little bit of that in space,’ Katy said of the Louis Armstrong rendition.

‘It’s not about me, it’s not about singing my songs, it’s about a collective energy in there. It’s about us, it’s about making space for future women, and taking up space, and belonging.

The Blue Origin flight containing Lauren Sanchez, Amanda Nguyen, Katy Perry, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe and Kerianne Flynn has taken off (Picture: AFP)

The Blue Origin rocket ship took off earlier this morning (Picture: Blue Origin)

‘It’s about this wonderful world we see right out there, and appreciating it.

‘This is all for the benefit of Earth.’

‘This experience is second to being a mom,’ she continued. ‘That’s why it was hard for me to go, because that’s all my love right there.

‘I have to surrender and trust that the universe is going to take care of me and protect me, and also my family, my daughter.

All eyes were on the Blue Origin live stream (Picture: Blue Origin)

‘I am full up from being able to get that gift of being a mom and to go to space is incredible, and I wanted to model courage and worthiness, and fearlessness.’

‘It is the highest high and it is surrender to the unknown. This whole journey is not just about going to space, it’s the training, the team. I couldn’t recommend this experience more.’

‘What you’re doing is really finding the love for yourself – because you’ve got to trust in yourself on this journey – then you’re feeling the love when you come down, for sure,’ she added.

After returning, Katy held a daisy to the sky as she left the ship.

Thrilled at being back in one piece, she got down on all fours and kissed the ground before reuniting with her loved ones – something Gayle also did.

She was able to reunite with her daughter, Daisy, as well as her mom and sister – who were on hand for moral support.

Oprah watched on in horror as the flight took off (Picture: Blue Origin)

She really was all of us watching the journey unfold (Picture: Blue Origin)

Kris Jenner and Khloe Kardashian were by the blast site (Picture: Blue Origin)

The controversial 11-minute journey marked the 31st flight in the New Shepard rocket ship, and the 11th human flight from the technology company.

It was also first to be solely made up of women since 1963, when Russian astronaut Valentina Tereshkova had a solo space flight.

Kris Jenner, Khloe Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey were among the friends and family gathered at the launch site to celebrate the historic flight.

Before takeoff, Katy could be seen smiling and waving as she made her way to the rocket ship alongside Gayle and co – dressed in their jazzy, specially designed Blue Origin space suits, designed by Oscar de la Renta creative directors Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim.

The mom-of-one also made sure to get a final tweet in ahead of her journey, simply posting: ‘I LOVE YOU.’

In a new interview filmed beforehand, the Firework musician – who shares daughter Daisy with fiancé Orlando Bloom – teared up about the prospect of the historic flight, and what the trip meant for her family.

The flight took a matter of minutes (Picture: Blue Origin)

It landed safely soon after take off (Picture: Blue Origin)

‘I’m going to be very emotional this weekend, of course,’ she said through tears when asked about her message to her loved ones.

‘My message is that I love them so much and I’m so full of love, and I’m so grateful to be representing a fearless female in my family, which is a domino effect for my mom, for my sister, and definitely something I feel for my daughter.’

In the sit-down chat, she also revealed that she will be put to work while in space – as well as possibly putting on a performance for her fellow passengers, and everyone watching from home.

The singer teased a possible space performance (Picture: Blue Origin)

TV host and journalist Gayle King nabbed a ticket to the flight (Picture: Blue Origin)

NASA engineer Aisha Bowe was in seat number four (Picture: Blue Origin)

‘I’m launching a tour I think it would be pretty cool to be pretty cool to reveal my set list for that tour in space,’ Katy teased, before adding a separate message to her loyal fans.

‘Thanks for being on this journey of a lifetime with me and what a ride it already has been, and will continue to be, obviously. Buckle up.’

Previous Blue Origin passengers have included Star Trek actor William Shatner and Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan.

Lauren Sanchez picked the passengers herself (Picture: Blue Origin)

Research scientist Amanda Nguyen traveled to space earlier(Picture: Blue Origin)

Filmmaker Kerianne Flynn was on board the history-making flight (Picture: Blue Origin)

Lauren, who is set to marry Amazon boss Jeff, was behind the passenger list for today’s historic flight and chose her fellow guests personally to celebrate how they had inspired others.

‘All of these women are storytellers in their own right,’ she told Elle Magazine. ‘They’re going to go up to space and be able to spread what they felt in different ways.’

She also made sure that their Blue Origin space suits were completely redesigned to not only fit a woman but also to ‘bring a little spice to space’ – they are tight-fitting embossed with the company’s logo down the arms.

Kim Kardashian provided the underwear through her Skims brand.

The suits were specially designed for the crew (Picture: AFP)

Detailing their intense preparation in a lengthy chat with Elle, Katy joked that her beauty regime was already in place.

‘Space is going to finally be glam,’ she quipped. ‘Let me tell you something, if I could take glam up with me, I would do that. We are going to put the “ass” in astronaut.’

According to the outlet, they will be able to float around the rocket and experience weightlessness, check out the incredible views for around four minutes before starting their return.

David Wilson