Katy Perry will join the first all-woman space mission since 1963 aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. Prior to this mission, the most recent all-woman space flight was the Soviet Union’s Valentina Tereshkova’s solo mission.

The Blue Origin New Shepard rocket; Photo: JOE SKIPPER, REUTERS
The Blue Origin New Shepard rocket; Photo: JOE SKIPPER, REUTERS

The rocket will launch from West Texas, and though there isn’t a specific date listed for launch, Blue Origin said it would take off this spring prior to Katy Perry’s Lifetimes Tour, which takes place from April 23-November 11.

“If you had told me I’d be part of the first all-female crew in space, I would have believed you. Nothing was beyond my imagination as a child,” Perry said in a statement cited by Newsweek.

The pop singer will also be joined by Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos’s fiancee Lauren Sanchez, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, CBS presenter Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

The NS-31 mission will be the 11th human spaceflight for the New Shepard rocket and the 31st in its history. Thus far, the program has sent 52 people into space.

According to Blue Origin, the trip on the New Shepard lasts approximately 11 minutes. The fully autonomous spacecraft sends passengers past the Karman line or the internationally recognized edge of space. The passengers will experience several minutes of weightlessness and witness views of Earth through windows that encompass more than one-third of the capsule’s surface area.

“This flight will undoubtedly prove to be a life-changing experience for each of us, and I’m honored to be with such an incredible group of explorers,” said Sánchez, fiancee of Bezos, who pulled the flight crew together. “Most importantly, I am looking forward to all the women in this crew sharing their story and inspiring future generations to dream big.”