Check out Katy Perry's full spaceflight schedule aboard Jeff Bezos' rocket
Produced by Tarun Mishra
Produced by Tarun Mishra
Blue Origin will carry out its 31st New Shepard mission (NS-31) on 14 April, marking the first all-female crewed spaceflight since 1963. The flight includes six women, with launch scheduled for 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) from Launch Site One in Texas.
The launch will be livestreamed on Blue Origin’s website, as well as on YouTube and the company’s official X (formerly Twitter) account. Space.com will also carry the stream on its homepage and YouTube channel. The broadcast will begin around 15 minutes before liftoff.
The suborbital mission will last around 10 to 11 minutes from liftoff to landing. The rocket will follow a set sequence including liftoff, booster separation at 2:40, and booster landing at 7:30, followed by the crew capsule’s parachute-assisted touchdown.
After separation, the crew capsule will ascend past 62 miles (100 kilometres), crossing the Kármán line—the internationally recognised boundary of space. The passengers will experience a few minutes of microgravity before beginning descent.
The New Shepard booster will return first, using aerobrakes and engine reignition to land on a designated pad 2 miles from the launch point. The crew capsule will descend separately, deploying parachutes to ensure a safe landing in the Texas desert.
The NS-31 crew includes singer Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyen, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, producer Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sánchez, who will lead the mission. Sánchez is also the partner of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos.
Although the target launch time is 9:30 a.m. EDT, the window may extend due to potential technical or weather-related delays. If delayed, the livestream will adjust accordingly, starting roughly 15 minutes before the revised launch time.