Watch Katy Perry leave earth and blasts into space with all-female Blue Origin crew

Pop star and five other women have aboard Jeff Bezos' space tourism rocket. The Teenage Dream singer, 40, has set off on the 11-minute flight with author Lauren Sanchez, 55, TV host Gayle King, 70, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, 33, rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, 38, and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn, 57.

The New Shepard rocket lifted off from its West Texas launch site as the launch window opened at 08:30 local time (14:30 BST). The flight will last 11 minutes and take the crew more than 100km above Earth - technically entering space as the capsule crosses the Karman line, the boundary of space.

Katy's once-in-a-lifetime trip is the first all-female crew since Russian engineer Valentina Tereshkova’s solo flight in 1963. Katy and her four fellow passengers will experience about four minutes of weightlessness and will have time to float around and take in the views of Earth from the large windows before the capsule descends back to Earth using three parachutes.

Before her life-changing trip to space, the Roar hitmaker managed to squeeze in some on Sunday, as revealed by photos shared online by BlueOrigin. Katy also , promising to put "the 'ass' in astronaut" ahead of her exciting trip in a post that also featured Ms Sanchez. The pair were seen sporting blue jumpsuits, which were specially designed by Ms Sanchez for the mission.

Given that Katy is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with more than 115 billion streams, she is more than excited to add to her many accolades by becoming one of the few women who have been to space. As of today, 100 women have officially flown to space - with Katy, Lauren, Gayle, Amanda, and Aisha making up the last five.

It comes as Ms Sanchez said in a video post that she hopes the mission will inspire people to “dream big”. "If someone would have told me that I would be able to go to space one day, I would have definitely, well, I don’t know, laughed”, she said. “I can’t believe it’s happening. My dad used to teach people how to fly, and I used to hang around the hanger and I thought dreaming of becoming a pilot was a huge deal, and this is even bigger.

“The incredible women that are going on this flight are extraordinary in all of their fields, but more importantly, they’re incredible storytellers. So what I’m hoping for is, this flight is not just transformative for them, but also for all of the people that they tell their story to. Hopefully it sparks that imagination to a dream big and reach for the stars.”

Blue Origin has flown tourists on short hops to space since 2021. Some passengers have been given free rides, while others have paid a hefty sum to experience weightlessness. Mr Bezos, 61, climbed aboard with his brother for the inaugural flight.

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