Katy Perry Officially Blasts Off With All-Women Crew Into Space, Kisses the Ground When She Returns

Katy Perry can add another accomplishment to her long list of accolades: becoming an astronaut.

The pop star, 40, was one of six women who launched into space during an all-women spaceflight on Monday, April 14. Joining Perry on the Blue Origin rocket were CBS Mornings host Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, filmmaker Kerianne Flynn, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sánchez.

The flight, which lasted around 11 minutes from takeoff to touchdown and traveled 65 miles above Earth’s surface, took off from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:30 a.m. ET. Perry, who sported her dark locks in loose waves, and the crew each rang a bell before boarding the spacecraft.

Though the audio within the capsule was limited, Perry and the women were heard screaming in excitement as they saw the moon up close and the Earth from above, as well as when the craft landed at around 9:41 a.m. ET.

Perry’s 4-year-old daughter, Daisy Dove, whom she shares with fiancé Orlando Bloom, was among the crowds of family, friends and space aficionados in attendance at the launch. (Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner were also there.) In honor of her daughter, Perry held a flower up in the air as she exited the capsule before celebrating the mission’s success by kissing the ground.

Perry and her fellow passengers made history by becoming the first all-female spaceflight since Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo trek in 1963. The launch also marked the 11th human flight for Blue Origin’s New Shepard program.

Since the flight was announced in February, Perry has shared her excitement for the out-of-this-world trip with fans.

“If you had told me that I would be part of the first-ever all-female crew in space, I would have believed you ♥️😉,” she wrote via Instagram on February 27. “Nothing was beyond my imagination as a child. Although we didn’t grow up with much, I never stopped looking at the world with hopeful WONDER! I work hard to live my life that way still, and I am motivated more than ever to be an example for my daughter that women should take up space (pun intended).”

Perry added that she was “honored” to use the spaceflight to “show all of the youngest & most vulnerable among us to reach for the stars, literally and figuratively.”

The “E.T.” singer took a break from preparing for her upcoming Lifetimes Tour to meet her fellow first-time spacegoers while shooting the group’s Elle magazine April digital cover. “Everyone is as lovely and cool as I imagined they would be— still can’t believe I’m going to space!” she captioned behind-the-scenes pics and clips from the cover shoot via Instagram earlier this month.

One day before the flight, Perry revealed the special connection she shares with the space capsule’s name and design. “The capsule on the very front of it is the outline in the shape of a feather,” she shared in a Sunday, April 13, Instagram video. “And when I saw that, it was like a total confirmation because my mom has always called me Feather.”

That day, Perry got a look at the capsule after training and discovered it was named “Tortoise,” which happens to be another of her mother’s nicknames for her. “What are the chances that I’m going to space, on a rocket, in a capsule, with my symbol the feather, called Tortoise?” she remarked. “There are no coincidences, and I’m just so grateful for these confirmations and so grateful that I feel like something bigger than me is steering the ship.”

Perry gave fans a sneak peek inside the space capsule in another Sunday Instagram video, including a glimpse at her blue spacesuit and her seat with “K. Perry” written on it. “I think I’m gonna sing, sing a little bit,” she teased in the clip. “I gotta sing in space!”

In the post’s caption, Perry wrote that it’s been a dream of hers to go to space for “15 years,” adding, “Tomorrow that dream becomes a reality 👩🏻‍🚀🪶🐢. The Taking Up Space Crew launches tomorrow morning at 7am CT and I am SO honored to be alongside 5 other incredible and inspiring women as we become the first ever all female flight space crew!”